


Change in Tempo

by Kimmzie



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Wolf Rose Tyler, Dimension-Hopping Rose, F/M, Multiple Doctors (Doctor Who)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2018-09-25 03:01:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 43,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9799856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kimmzie/pseuds/Kimmzie
Summary: Rose is reunited with the Doctor at the right time but she is a bit early.Rose/ The Doctor- 50th anniversary/ Time War fix-it. Includes mainly Rose Tyler, The Tenth Doctor, The Eighth Doctor, Pete's World and returning her to the right Dimension.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is based on my first fic. It's condensed and the plot is pretty and shiny. The first fic I wrote within the Doctor Who fandom was based on obscure notes for someone that was not able to write them.   
> \- This is how my plot would've gone originally.  
> -All errors are my own.

A Storm is on the Horizon

Kimmzie

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

 

Chp 1: A Chance Meeting

Her heart was a piece of lead. The staccato beat thundered in her chest, and tried to crack her ribs. Rose Tyler leaned against a wall and felt her body sliding down the wet, hard bricks. She noted that with every dimension jump she seemed to end up in an alley. At least she was alone.

She had been too late…. He was gone. The piece of lead drifted down into her stomach. Her hot tears plastered her gold hair to her cheeks. She should've worn water proof mascara.

Only his white trainers had been visible from under the red tarp. She felt anguish. Everything was too heavy to support as she sat on the pavement. He was gone and the stars were going out. She closed her eyes and rubbed the tears and mascara off her cheeks.

"Excuse me, Miss… Pardon me, but are you alright?" a deep voices said. It broke Rose's contemplation. She lifted her hazel eyes a little and saw scuffed knee high boot.

"Sorry mate, I'm fine. Just fine. Just need a mo," she said. Rose wiped off her trousers and made an attempt to get up. Strong arms steadied her shoulders and helped lift her to her feet. She looked up and saw blue eyes.

"Are you sure you are alright? People don't tend to sit in alleys. Well, maybe in this place," he said in a soft and steady voice.

"W'What do'you mean this place?" Rose said as her tongue tripped over the words. This man was odd. She looked him over appraisingly, he was older than her and had short, curly brown hair. He looked like he walked out of a Jane Austen remake, cravat and all.

"I'm not a big zeppelin person." He gestured up towards the ships. "There was this big fiasco with an airship and a princess a few months ago. But I am not used to these type of airships being in London," he trailed off.

"So, who are you then?" Rose questioned trying to gain her composure.

"Oh, me? Just a traveler. I'm the Doctor. And you are?" he replied. His blue eyes shone with a familiar brilliance.

"Rose, Rose Tyler. Doctor?" She didn't know what to do. "Doctor," she repeated.

"Have we met before? Sometimes, I meet people and don't know them yet. Hazards of my kind of travel. But you, Rose Tyler are most interesting." He looked down at her. "Your timeline is twisted within itself. You don't belong here." His blue eyes shone darkly at her. "This is wrong."

"Doctor," she breathed. Her heart felt lighter. She couldn't help it, her arms were around him and she tried to squeeze so that he would never leave her again.

"Ah! So Rose Tyler, we have met." He gently pulled away.

"Yeah," she replied with a smile that let her tongue peak through her teeth. "Will time be damaged with you being here? I haven't met you yet."

"I can make myself forget these events if necessary,” The Doctor answered. His fingers pinched the edge of his nose as he looked at her. "But how are you in the wrong reality? Time in this Universe is bending around you. It's compensating. But, I can't tell you how long that will last."

"I got trapped. But it's more than that. Take a harder look. Time moves faster in this dimension. But it's happening everywhere, the stars are going out. All of reality is fracturing," Rose said quickly.

"Yes, it seems there is quite a bit going on." He winced as he opened his time senses further. The time streams were splintering and breaking off. The Time Lord couldn't stand it. He dulled his sense and tried to gulp away the sick sensation that was at the back of his throat. "It doesn't seem to be just the Time War anymore. But let's not waste the night in an alley. Where to?" the Doctor said pleasantly as he tried to recover.

"I'll make my report in the morning. To my flat?" Rose smiled, and held out her hand out of habit. The strange Doctor appraised it. He smoothly entangled his fingers with hers. For a second, the rotation of the Earth and Stars slowed.

"Usually I make people buy me a drink first." He swung their hands in a slow rhythm. "The TARDIS is slightly damaged, but I could use my instruments to look and see why the timelines are fracturing," he continued. Rose squeezed his hand as he saw worry lines appear in his forehead.

"Oh right, Brilliant! Where is she?" Rose looked up to him and smiled. His worry lines smoothed away.

"Ah yes, Right down this way." He twirled her around a corner. But he could still see that her hazel eyes were glassy.

He smiled as he saw her eyes light up as she gazed upon the blue box he called home. She took out a key from around her neck and dangled it back and forth on its silver chain. "May I?" She grinned.

"You can try," he said with an expectant eyebrow.

"Well, here goes nothing.'" She took the key and the door opened with a smooth turn. "It worked!" She jumped a few times in glee shaking her hands.

The Doctor crossed his arms in amusement. Who was this golden girl? This Rose Tyler, who had such sad eyes.

"Well, a door once opened may be entered. Ladies first," he said. He couldn't help but smile at the distinctive ooo that came from inside. He did have taste.

"There's so much wood, and arches. Very posh," she said stroking the console. She heard the TARDIS hum in approval.

"Hello girl," she said with a grin. The lights of the TARDIS flickered. "So Doctor, the dimension cannon needs time to recharge. I'll give my data and report tomorrow. That means I am all yours til 'then." He could see her smile did not reach her eyes.

"Well then Rose Tyler, care for a cup of tea?" the Time Lord asked. She nodded and started to let her hair down. Her bangs covered her eyes. She shrugged out of the purple leather coat and left it on one his favorite reading chairs. "The temperature is a little off… Damage," the Doctor said noncommittally. "There may be shifts in the atmospheric controls, and translation may get dodgy, while the TARDIS is focused on other things. Crossing over into this dimension drained several power conduits and stabilizers." He pulled a hand through his hair as he looked over the main console. "I may be here for a spell." He looked over to Rose who was now perched on the arm of the reading chair. He smiled as he shrugged off his raggedy overcoat and undid his cravat. It was quite hot. His body was even close to sweating.

"At least you got company."

"Yes, I do. It's been a while," he trailed off. "Good to know I have you to look forward to." He handed her a cup of tea that had appeared out of the ether. The cup was hot pink.

"You've been alone?" She reached out to grab his bare forearm with her spare hand. His nerves sent electric shocks through his body at the contact.

He withdrew a little, and the Tyler girl frowned.

"It's been a long couple of decades," he said with a shrug.

She nodded. "I've been jumping between dimensions for a few months. At first, the times were random." She lowered her eyes. "I saw scenes of the Time War in other Universes. It was numbing, horrifying." The Doctor turned his back.

"I will take no part in it," he said sternly.

Rose shook her head. "Well, we've got more than the Time War to deal with," she said in a small voice. Her voice was breaking. As the Doctor turned around the girl was in a ball silently sobbing. Her hands clawed at her hair as she hid her face from him. He put the forgotten tea on the side table and went to kneel by her.

"Well that was some rubbish tea; supposed to make everything better," he murmured as his hand hesitantly found her back. Rose stiffened to his touch. "Yes, that was a bad quip," he apologized. "Why did I find you crying in an alley, Rose Tyler? I don't think it is because reality is fracturing."

"Y'you…" she whispered. He could tell that she was holding back sobs. He dare not let out a breath as his respiratory bypass kicked in.

"Me?" His hand was bold enough to disentangle her hand so he could look in her teary, hazel eyes. Her heart was racing. "What do you mean?" he asked. The Time Lord ignored the insistent humming of the TARDIS in the back of his mind. "Rose, what do you mean? How can I be more important than reality fracturing?"

"Because." She turned her head. "You're you. You're Brilliant. You're the Doctor. My Doctor," she stuttered. Her hands clasps both sides of his face. He was frozen and his hearts stopped pumping. "And now you're gone." She let go of his face and started to grab her hair. She rocked slowly back and forth. "I found you! Then you were gone!" she cried. She was seething as she held out what looked to be a damp sonic screw driver. He could sense her pain; the rage, anguish, and emptiness emanating off her slight form.

"Rose, I don't know what happened. But it can be fixed. Time is in flux. Especially around you. May I add the fabric of reality is in flux. We can fix this. I am the Doctor. The Doctor is right here." He adjusted himself so he could wrap his arms around the girl.

"You drowned…. I was too late. It's so wrong," she continued. She grabbed him tighter.

"No time to regenerate I see," he said with a sigh. She shook her head against his chest.

"There was supposed to be a woman there to help you. To stop you."

"You?" It was a simple question. She kept back a chocked sob. "Sorry," he whispered his fingers finding their way into her hair.

"No, we got separated. I got trapped here and I'm trying to find," she cutoff the sentence. Her hands took his out of her hair and entwined them within her own. "I'm trying to find you." She smiled a bit.

"You found the right man, just a tad early," he said as his thumb stroked the back of her hand. "It's not a fixed point in time." His adventurous thumb found her cheek. She smiled and it reached her eyes.

"Hello." She continued to smile.

"Hello," the Doctor replied calmly. "Now, who is this woman that stops me?"

"Her name is Donna Noble. She's special. But her timeline has changed somehow. You weren't supposed to die." His eyes darkened at that statement.

He hid a sigh. "Well, we shall fix this," he murmured. Rose's breathing was steadying and her heart was slowing down. "First, I believe you need some rest. Humans do tend to sleep a third of their life away." He slowly started to break away from the comfortable weight on his chest. He would never look at that chair the same again. "Let's see if the TARDIS has the energy to give you a room." He let his arms sweep over the control room. "Take your jacket, it's about to get frigid." He scooped up his rumpled coat.

Chp 2

Rose followed the Doctor down the corridors and felt intense déjà vu. Same man, old face. Well, the face was new to her. Rose heard a hum and a light flickered near a door. "Doctor, I think it's this one." She went over to the heavy wooden door. It opened on its own accord.

"It's pink!" Rose said in a high pitched voice. "Kinda looks like my old room," she continued.

"The TARDIS stores rooms in its data banks. She must like you. Lots of ruffles," the Doctor commented as he leaned against the door. "I'm going to go into the time vortex so I can calibrate some tools to figure out this situation. Sleep as much as you need. We'll get you to your report on time. Which you still have to explain to me." Rose perked up from the bed and the Doctor shook his head. "Get comfortable, I'll be back in a moment." He turned and left the room hands clasped at the small of his back.

Rose jumped on the fluffy bed for a few minutes and then went to check out the wardrobe. She grabbed a fuzzy pair of pink pajamas and wrapped a dark robe around herself. It was getting cold. She fought back a shiver and could feel the hairs on her arms standing up.

This Tyler was focusing on the moment. The despair of losing the Doctor and the confusion of finding an earlier version of him in the same day was too much. Far too much.

"Well, it definitely is getting colder. I can fix the atmospheric controls in a few hours. I'm trying to tune the Eye of Harmony to your timeline and mine." the Doctor said as he entered the room. "I may need help from your instruments to find this Donna Noble, woman."

"You just want m' company," Rose said jumping on the bed.

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders and slowly approached her. He had a heavier coat on that was a greenish velvet. "Well, Rose Tyler. You do seem apprised of the situation." Rose nodded and looked down to the Doctor's hands.

"What's all the pink?"

"Oh yes, here you are. Something to keep warm. It's going to get colder soon. A hobby. Sometimes there is too much time."

"Sure, yeah right. The superior Time Lord knits." She examined the scarf and hat.

"A man needs his hobbies over the centuries," the Doctor said with a shrug. Rose bundled herself up in the pink wool. "There! It will help you from getting cold." He straightened the hat on the girl's head. "Good night." He didn't even think when he kissed her forehead.

Rose was too exhausted and numb to overthink the gesture. She laid back and closed her heavy eyes as the lights dimmed. "Thanks," she whispered.

The Doctor leaned against the outside of Rose's door. Who was this human? He was never this affectionate towards his former companions. Well, he had kissed a woman over a pair of shoes that fit and on a few other occasions. But still. He listened for her breathing to straighten out. She would have to be strong enough to look into the eye. This Donna Noble woman would be found.

He stunted his time senses as he felt the time lines flux, reality fracture, and the screams of the Time War. His mind was weary. This pink and yellow girl had brought him here and he would help her. He was her Doctor.

Sometime later, a cold draft snuck into Rose’s room and nipped at her nose. The girl hid a shiver. She wrapped the wooly scarf around her face and pulled the covers over her head. The bed was fluffy and let her body sink into it. Her hazy mind knew that it would wake soon. The reality of the Multi-verse would come crashing over her; not yet.

The TARDIS did a musical hum in her mind. Her thoughts slowed. She was safe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! comments are always welcomed!

Change in Tempo  
By Kimmzie

Disclaimer: I own nothing  
Author's Note: read, review, and enjoy

Meanwhile in the bowels of his ship, the Doctor was doing what he did best. He tinkered. He had been and still was fantastic at it. Since the Time War had started, the Time Lord hadn’t touched the Eye of Harmony. It had been decades. He was too busy running. The singularity would show too much. If the Daleks could get a hold of it, the cost would be catastrophic.

Here he was humming to himself, tinkering, searching out timelines again and about to use the Eye.

He dropped the wires to the ground and shook his head in all that was going on. Even, he was getting dizzy keeping everything straight. That was to be expected time was bending and winding every-which-way.   
1\. He had been dragged into a parallel world.  
2\. Apparently, he was dead.   
3\. There was more going on than just The Time War.

He leaned back and stretched out on the floor. He used his hands as a pillow and closed his eyes. Rose Tyler. The human girl shows up at the toes of his well-worn boots. Her smile flashed in his mind. She seemed to know him VERY well. Their hands fit so well together and she could keep up with his running.

The Time Lord got up with a yawn and tried to stretch out his cramped legs. It was getting cold. He paced around the room and looked at saw some of the glass tubes were getting cloudy with condensation.   
How cold could humans get?

Was Rose wrapped up in the pink scarf? Later! He would think of her later. The Doctor looked at her crude watch- type device that had she had called a dimension cannon, or something. With a push of a few buttons it recorded dimensional coordinates, time lines, possible paradoxes- along with various other readings. Primitive but effective. Ooo it measured height above sea level. The Doctor hooked it into the TARDIS’ database for the last few hours. 

The calculations were done and Rose’s hypothesis was confirmed. The walls to the dimensions were fracturing and his time line just stopped. It was wrong. He warily opened himself to the time lines and there was more chaos than usual. Everything was a torrent of bends, cracks, tears, and so much more. Time was compensating a little too well. It was so wrong.

He could feel that time here was slowly mutating around him. He was usually hesitant to look into his future. But he never was really one for rules. He was a part of time. A Time Lord could taste it, hear it, see it, feel it, and sense it. The more he became aware of everything. The more his head hurt. I all was bitter, bleeding, and made him sick. 

The Time Lord continued to look over the screen to see Rose’s data. She had gone through so many worlds, and different realities. 

All to find him? He shook his head and leaned against the console. It had been a few long decades.  
He had been alone for so long.  
\--  
“Hello there,” a chipper voice said, successfully breaking his concentration. “Good to see all your bodies know how to brood.”

“I do not brood,” the Doctor replied crossing his arms. “I have a few things set up. First if you’re feeling better, I need some   
questions answered. We’ll even try a different flavor of tea for this go around.” The Time Lord smiled and started to walk towards the console room.

“You know it took me like twenty minutes to find this place,” she huffed. The Doctor tilted his head and gave her a quizzical look. And then, he stole her hat.

“It will be good exercise.” He smiled. “We also have to go find a star.”

“I prefer running,” she chuckled to herself. 

The Doctor returned her hat and started to jog ahead. 

“Glad I wore my trainers,” Rose replied as she kept up his brisk pace.

When they got to the console room both travelers were laughing. “I guess there will continue to be running in my future.” The Doctor presented Rose with the magically appearing pink cup. “Ready to start again? What do you say? It should be a different flavor and warm.” He pushed the reading chair in front of her. Rose silently sipped from the cup and sat. The Time Lord became silent and leaned a few feet away from her on the console.

“Yeah, I think I’m ready. Why do I think you’re not talking about tea?” Rose asked trying to break up the silence.

“There is always time to talk about tea. Unfortunately, there are also more pressing matters at hand,” he replied.

“You are a Time Lord.”

“Yes, I am. You seem to know a lot about me. I don’t know much about you. Who are you Rose Tyler?”

“I don’t know what you mean. I’m Rose Tyler and you’re The Doctor.” She put the mug down.

“Rose, I am very tired. I can see that you have traveled a far way. I know that you have seen many things. I just don’t understand what you are to me. I understand that you are very important. I confirmed everything you said. It is quite worrisome. However, because of the Time War my senses are limited.”

“Wha- I don’t really know what you mean.” The girl started to play with the rim of her mug.

“Rose, people don’t mourn Time Lords anymore. They run. They run very fast. How can the Universe forgive the War? Why do you mourn me? Why are you trying so hard to find him/ me? What is left to find?” His eyes were burning holes through her and they were almost glassy. “Is there anything left Rose?”

“You are left Doctor. And you are brilliant. You make everything better. You made me better. I felt the world spinning beneath my feet because of you. I’m defending the Earth because of you,” Rose cut her words short as the man approached her.

“I run. I’ve been running my whole life,” he said shortly. “It’s going to catch up with me.” He let his hand rest on the table near her chair. 

“How long have you been on your own?” the girl whispered. She was silent as he shook his head. “I’ve seen the darkness of it all. Not as long as you. But we just keep going. We have to stop the stars from going out.” 

He shook his head. “Ever forwards,” the man sighed.

“Come’ere,” the girl said. She pointed at her temples. “I know your senses are limited. But, can you see in here?” He nodded. Wordlessly he removed the hat from her head and brought shaky hands to her temples.

The Doctor let down his shields and was bathed in a golden light. He was in the TARDIS but the desktop had changed. It was coral, blue and very grungy. Rose was looking up at him from a jump seat, her feet dangling playfully. “I got some telepathic training from you when a bitchy, psychopathic trampoline possessed me. What?” She shrugged the concern look on the Doctor’s face away.

“I’m not going to ask. Thank you for the invitation.” The Doctor sat down on the jump seat.

“Welcome to my mind,” she said and patted his knee. She had a smiled and her tongue was poked out of the edge of her mouth for an instant. “Well as you said, ‘a manifestation of my thoughts or simply my mind’s lobby.’ You kinda went off on a tangent after that.” 

“I tend to do that. You’re dressed in black.” He fingered the cloth of her hoodie.

“I can get a tad dramatic, not fully in control yet.” 

The control room faded and they were on a wet street in London. Rose tried to cover her eyes. Not that would help…There was a sonic screw driver at the foot of a stretcher. Rose started to turn away and he grabbed her hand.

“Sorry, I can be insensitive sometimes. You can stop if you want,” the Doctor said with a squeeze of her hand.

“No, it kinda just leaked through. C’mon then.” She pulled him down the street away from the emergency lights. The street morphed into a cinema with posh red seats and a sticky floor. “Take a seat,” Rose said as she ushered him into a middle row.  
The screen was bright and he saw a younger Rose folding t-shirts. “I was just a shop girl before I met you. I hadn’t finished my A-levels, and folded clothing. I thought I wanted just an ordinary life.” She reached out her fingers. “Then you grabbed my hand and said, ‘Run.’” Her fingers entwined with his. “I’ve been running with you ever since.” She leaned back in her seat and gazed upon the screen with a slight smile.

The screen flickered. There were flashes of a man grinning at them ear to ear on many occasions. Then the man was covered in gold light and declared, “Everybody lives Rose! Just this once, everybody lives.” People were saying his name in awe, crowds of people.

“You’re the Doctor, you help people.” Then the screen slowed down and there were lingering images of two different faces gazing at Rose with an emotion he thought was no longer possible. He felt a warmth radiating off of her. An acceptance of who he was or would be. “I promised you forever. And you’re gonna get it,” she said softly. There was the image of a cold white wall and then a flash of a beach. “Can’t give it all away.” She wiggled her free hand.

The Doctor nodded. 

“Yes, the world is burning, but we keep fighting. You always keep going. You’re my Doctor,” she said bringing her lips gently to his hand. He couldn’t ignore the flash of gold on the screen as she said the last sentence.

“Quite right,” he murmured. It was the only response he could come up with.

“It’s bad. But, it will be fantastic,” the girl’s words trailed off and the theater lights dimmed.

Suddenly, they were on the wet streets of London again. In front of them stood a man, the Doctor recognized him from the screen. He wore a brown pinstriped suit and smiled at Rose, his hair was sticking up everywhere.

“Absolutely fantastic.” She looked from the man in the suit to the Doctor. The Time Lord noticed that her hoodie was now pink.  
“Well then, let’s go find a star.” He smiled down at Rose and broke the connection.

Rose was swirling the remnants of tea in her mug when the Doctor called her over to the console. “There,” he said. His finger pointed to the screen. “This part of this universe is old. Here is a binary star that lost its partner and is about to go supernova,” he said with a smile.

“Are you going to use it to contact someone? That’s how you said goodbye.”

“Well, you are. You’re going to look across my timeline and find a version of your Doctor. So he can pull us through the crack to the right world. Then we will try and find this Donna woman.”

“We?” Rose looked over towards the Time Lord.

“Rose Tyler even if the walls are cracking, I cannot allow you to keep making the holes bigger with this dimensional cannon. The technology in the TARDIS is far superior. Your journey would go much more swiftly. So this last trip will be one way,” he said with a pause as if waiting for her to say something. “Are you alright with that?”

“So I have to say goodbye,” she said dully. He nodded. “I made my choice a long time ago.” She leaned in closer to him. He could feel her hot breath just below his collar. The Doctor stood ridged and tried to ignore the warmth.

“Yes. Well,” he was cut off as the human girl’s lips covered the next part of the sentence. Instinctively he opened his lips to her inquisitive tongue. His synapses fired lightning, as they cautiously explored each other. His mind flashed gold as her arms wrapped around him. Apparently, she chose him.

Rose pulled away too soon with a blush. “Um, sorry I wasn’t really thinking.”

“We haven’t done that sort of thing before?” he asked, his lips still tingling.

“No, not really. We didn’t get that far. We don’t really talk about it and…” The Doctor held up his hand to stop her.

“You don’t need to explain. You’ve made your choice. Let’s go and get your Doctor back.”

The pair made their way in silence to the bowels of the TARDIS. 

“So Rose Tyler, are you ready?” The Doctor adjusted his cravat. “The Eye of Harmony is complicated,” he said with a frown. “Just maintain focus and you will be fine. The Time Lords don’t even know I figured out how to do this.” He pushed some golden locks from her face. She was biting her lower lip. No tongue and cheek today.

“Find where our time lines separate, yeah?” she asked shakily. He nodded.

“I’ve inputted the data you have collected on Donna Noble so you should be able to see where her timeline went astray.”

“When I find it what do I do?” she asked with a small shrug and slowed her step a little.

“Call out for me and I will pin point it. If we know how time is mutating we can fix that point in time. The original timeline won’t stay prominently established for long…” He gave her arm a gentle tug. “It’s now or never, Rose.”

“Yeah.” She started to fall in with his brisk pace. The timelines were changing and cracking faster than the Doctor had anticipated. Donna Noble must be one important woman. The most important woman in his original Universe.  
\--  
Rose settled into a comfortable position so she could look into the eye. The Doctor fell back and went to his database. She gave him two thumbs up and went about opening the eye. The process was simple. What happens after the singularity opened was the problem. The Doctor braced himself for the maelstrom of temporal energy. He shuddered as that odd golden energy barraged his shields.

Rose Tyler was everywhere and nowhere. Images flashed faster than she could comprehend. Everything was happening at once. There were more thoughts, people, and places than she could comprehend. 

She was nothing. She was everything. The stars, moon, night and day were hers to control. Something was burning. Her skin was blistering and cracking under the heat.

“Concentrate,” said a faint scream.

The blisters on her hands broke as she clenched her hands into fists. She concentrated on somewhere safe. Home. The blurs of timelines faded away and a golden light revealed her TARDIS. She sat herself on the jump seat and looked at the screen. “Now what?” she questioned out loud.

“Well, you most certainly should start looking for this Donna Noble,” a familiar voice said from behind her. She didn’t know what to do as a lanky figure in brainy specks leaned over her to look at the screen.

“What? It’s you Doctor. But, you’re gone. Is it you? How can it be you?” She reached out her hand to the pinstriped suit and it was solid.

“So yeah. Well, quite right,” he stammered.

“Doctor!” Rose looked him in the eyes. There were more smile lines at the corners of his eyes. The dark orbs seemed wearier.

“Sorry. Sorry, your mind is trying to process what I am so I can tell you. Yes, there! Remember in the twentieth century, or so when Microsoft had that annoying paper clip in the word processing program? Think of it like the TARDIS back drop is your word document and I am your guide. The paperclip.”

“So you’re a piece of software?” she sighed, as he nodded his head in acquiescence. “Ok.”

“Yup,” he replied with an extra pop to the p. “But forget all that. We need to sort through the timelines. Look at the screen. That gold stream is yours, see how it divides into so many possibilities that is from all your travels. The blueishy one is mine or his. However you want to put it. You can move through them just by thought. Think of it like you’re fast forwarding a film in the media room. Now, think of the last time you saw me.”

“I…”she stammered.

“The Eye can’t stay open for long so you have to,” the paperclip Doctor urged her on.  
She dug deep and started to picture the sand. It had been so cold under her feet that it clumped in an odd fashion as she walked to where the Doctor called her. She had a red hiking pack in the back of the jeep just in case. The water had reflected the sun on his hologram and he had looked dim and opaque, even with some sonic. He couldn’t… He couldn’t save her from Pete’s world. She was trapped on the slow path, alone. Her future would be mortgages and houses that had carpets without him.

He was about to say it. Utter the words of their unspoken bond. They were what they were. And yet, words had power. They shaped reality. The right or wrong word could change a whole causal nexus. Her heart was thundering in her chest and she could hear the blood rushing through her veins. Then he was gone. The two lines on the screen diverged.

“There.” She pointed to the screen. The false Time Lord gave her a joyful laugh.

“Now you have to follow the blueishy line. Keep a look out for Donna.” The Paperclip Doctor spread out his hands and a purple line appeared. Rose didn’t quite understand why but she felt as if the line was yelling at her. “Yeah she does that.”

He was alone. Was there a tear going down his cheek? She could kind of feel that yelling at the back of her neck. She shivered. There! In a wedding dress was Donna. She had seen her a few times before. All attitude and fiery, red hair. How’d she get into the TARDIS? The Doctor’s expression quickly changed into that cute clueless look when he she’s something new. She loved how his freckles danced when he scrunched up his nose.

Oh, he tried so hard to get her to her wedding. Rose wasn’t certain if the events were around her or just on the screen. Something called. “Huon energy” had brought Donna to the TARDIS. But how’d it get there? She smiled as they ended up at H.C Clemens, and they got to ride segways. Now she had to put that on her list. The events continued to flash before her eyes. It had been her fiancé that had poisoned her. She didn’t want to go into the motives behind that kind of relationship or villainy. H.C Clemens was the key.

“You get that?” Rose asked her Paperclip.

“Right almost there now. What changed? Why didn’t she get the job?” his voice echoed faintly.

Rose focused on the purple time line. The images raced past her as she saw Donna work as a temp at the posh firm. She fell in love with Lance Bennett. That ass. He and Jimmy Stone were two peas in a pod. It just took a cup of coffee. It was poisoned coffee, but Rose couldn’t help but ponder how tiny gestures changed lives. She looked away and pictured an odd man in leather grabbing her hand and saying, “Run.”

“Oi, Rose you gotta keep on track. No time for that,” a Northern accent said. The software Doctor had changed to a face she hadn’t seen in ages. “Don’t wander too far into the past. Can’t you see he, I am disappearing. The Eye can’t sustain his likeness anymore. Nothing good can come of that.” Rose nodded a bittersweet yes.

“She’s in the car with her Mum. Man, those are harsh things to say. Reminds me of my Mum when I worked at the shop. Then you blew up my job and I had nothing to do.” The purple line started to vibrate. “There! Originally she went into the city, left! Now she is turning right to talk to this Jival Chowdry chap about the personal secretary job at the photocopying business.”

“Right, now you have to focus on this moment. This is the wound where time is bleeding, June 25, 2007! Remember that Rose. My timeline ends December 25, 2007. Donna Noble needs to turn left. Time is mutating around her. There is a great big alternate reality forming around her because something changed this small event. She must be important if all of reality is in flux because of this. Something else is coming but you already know that.” The leather-clad Doctor had a reassuring hand on Rose’s shoulder.

“That’s a lot for a paperclip to say,” Rose said cheekily.

“There isn’t much time. The Eye of Harmony is synced into parts of my time stream at the moment. In a way, a bit of my consciousness can appear as an interface. The walls are so cracked that my consciousness can bleed into this Universe. Since time is bleeding, I will remember this if or when you need to contact me or any future versions of me. Sorry, but you have to go. The Eye shouldn’t be open this long.” 

“Doctor?”

“Yes?” The image was starting to fade.

“Oh it’s nothing really… Thank you. I do miss the old face, y’know.” Rose wrapped her arms around the diminishing figure.

“Fantastic.” Rose could feel him smiling into her hair.

“I only wish I could’ve stayed with you longer. Oh well, same man different face,” she felt the slight pressure of lips on her forehead.

“You have to go now, Rose Tyler.”

She closed her eyes and felt as if the pit of her stomach was in a freefall. There was an immense pressure behind her eyes as she tried to blink them open. Then it was gone. Everything was just normal reality again.

“Rose?” The Byron-esque Doctor was offering her his hand. She let out a small laugh as he gently swung her into his arms. “Let’s not do that again for a while,” he whispered into her hair. She nodded. They stood still for countless breaths and beats of their heart(s).

“Did you get it?” Rose ask finally stepping away from him.

“Yes,” he replied with a sigh.

“You were in there.” The Doctor arched a brow. “Well, my other two versions of you,” Rose added quickly.

“Should I be jealous of myself? We did open a piece of my time stream and everything is in flux it’s quite possible that part of their or my consciousness were aware and tried to help. I did get the information a little too easy. Turn left. It’s burnt into my mind like fireworks.” He rubbed his temples.

“My current Doctor said he was a software program or guide. He disappeared.”

“He might have been a remnant from the original time line. He probably didn’t want to upset you. You humans and your emotions are complicated. You’re so delicate.” The Doctor winced even before he finished the last sentence and smiled at her frown. “I told you I can be inconsiderate.”

He put his hands up in surrender as Rose stared him down, her arms on her hips. “Then my original you explained, it and said he would remember if we need him .Hmm. I thought you loved us apes. You think we are all so brilliant and creative.”

“Yes, the human race is marvelous.” The Doctor stretched his arms out wide. “I have been known to grow attached to a select few now and again.” He took Rose’s hand from her hip and returned her into his arms with a spin. He looked down at her face and her eyes were sparkling.

“Why are you alone?” she asked in earnest. He stiffened and she saw hints of the On Coming Storm rearing his ugly head. “Sorry,” she murmured.

“The War. The Time War. You’ve seen small parts of it. The problem is we are losing and with that comes desperation. The Time Lords are becoming almost as bad as the enemy. I have a sense that the War doesn’t end well.” Rose was about to speak up and the Doctor shook his head. “I’m trying to ignore the glaringly obvious fact that it would be simple for me to come rescue you with another Time Lord. I don’t need to know.”

The sparkle had left Rose’s eyes and she was just shuffling her feet on the floor. “The walls are closed.”

“That shouldn’t matter, you just need two Time Lord’s ships. It’s child’s play. That is why my race only exists in one reality. Rassilon made it so we are trans-dimensional. All of time and space.”

“You’re rubbish on your own,” she tried to say with a smirk. He didn’t know what to think about her tongue peeking out the side of her mouth.

“Yes. I’m not alone now. The problem with humans and most companions is they leave. I run and they return to their lives: mortgages, families, children, jobs, and watching tele.” His hands were cautiously exploring the planes of her back.  
“Not me,” Rose said as she molded her body closer to the Time Lord’s. “I’m going to have to handcuff myself to you or something. So we don’t get separated.” She laughed as the Doctor gulped.

Where the hell were her hands going? He let out a yelp as the girl playfully grabbed his arse.

“Always wanted to do that,” she said. “Last time I waited and you see how that turned out. I’m not holding back anymore.” The Doctor twitched as the golden light went against his shields again. There was something faintly familiar tugging the back of his mind.

“I would expect nothing less,” the Doctor smirked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Holds up sign (beta reader wanted)   
> *Smiles


	3. Chapter 3

Change in Tempo  
By Kimmzie

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who  
Author's Note: Read, Like, and Review

He lowered his mouth to hers and brought their bodies in closer. Humans had such body heat. This time there was a sort of frenzy. Their tongues played with each other, teasing, trying to outdo the other. He tried to out finesse the girl with a fancy swirl. She playfully nipped at his bottom lip and then did a move he couldn’t describe. His head was buzzing and he felt as if there was fire running through his veins. This body had always been more physical, more human. 

Her hands were stuck in his hair and she was pulling him in closer. The gold light at the back of his mind was knocking against his shields louder. He lifted them partially and the warm gold light wrapped around his mind. It was full of that acceptance and warmth that he felt in cinema. He pulled away some and looked down at the girl.

“W’what?” Rose said a little thrown off.

“Are you sure we haven’t done anything like this before? Can you remember anything?” Rose shook her head as she twisted a curl around her index finger. She was moving in closer. “Rose, we have to get going. Time is accelerated here. The TARDIS can compensate for now. I didn’t realize it would be compromised here. It’s probably because my timeline is changing.” They both turned their heads when a panel started to light up. “Also your data is ready,” he said with a smile. “Don’t you have a report or some such nonsense to do?”

“Yup,” she said with a pop on the p. “Guess what? Even better, you getta meet my Dad.” The Doctor stiffened.

“Have I done this before?” He usually didn’t do parents.

“Oh yes! You getta probably meet my Mum too. She slapped you once. You took me home a year late. Oh and Mickey is going to love this and Tony, my brother, knows all about you.”

“I’m a Time Lord. I’m always on time. Who is Mikey? You have a brother?” he asked as he started downloading the data into Rose’s “wrist watch.”

“He was my boyfriend. Then you came a long and things got complicated.” She couldn’t help but wonder if the Doctor was smirking. His shoulders seemed straighter; if it was even possible.

“And now?”

“What do you mean? We’re just mates, best mates.” She shrugged. The Doctor handed her the device and smiled. “Um Doctor?” Rose asked quietly.

“Yes?”

“Could you do me a favor? I know time is pressing, but can you change your outfit?” The Time Lord looked puzzled. “I work for Torchwood. It’s kinda like Unit. We deal with aliens. My Dad runs it. But he only has so much power. If you waltz in there looking all Victorian —or whatever- it’s going to make things difficult. Please, I don’t want to do the paperwork.” The Doctor shrugged.

“I guess I’ve gotten into quite a rut. Early twenty-first century?” he said with a fake sigh. The Time Lord undid his cravat and shimmied out of his jacket. “This will be quick. I’ll meet you in the control room and we’ll go make your report and meet your parents. Remember Rose, this is your goodbye. It’s a one way trip and we’re going to establish the walls again. If I couldn’t get to you before… It’ll be like it was.” Rose nodded and grabbed his hand as they exited the room.

Rose was leaning back in the reading chair playing with her new data. They had found Donna Noble. Part one was accomplished. She was going home!

She forced a surge of emotions back. Was she happy or sad? There was a deep ache in her chest from seeing the Doctor dead. Then the paperclip Doctor had been him! He helped her. But even he faded. Her Time Lord was here. This new or earlier version of the Doctor was the same man. There was the same manic, brilliance behind his eyes. Their hands fit together the same way. 

She was traveling with the Doctor again.

The Doctor appeared and her jaw hit the floor. Rose had to admit that she did miss the cravat. He was wearing a similar leather jacket to her first Doctor with golden buttons. It also looked new. It was very black and very shiny. The breeches had been exchanged for normal jeans, and he had a messenger bag.

“Where did your hair go?” She ran her hands through the shortened locks. His curly hair had been tamed into a more modern look. Some locks still popped up defiantly.

“What? I cut it. More modern and all that. Don’t want your parents thinking I’m some hoodlum.” Rose had to hide a smile.

“How’d you do that in 5 minutes?” He shrugged at her and started pushing buttons and pulling levers.

“I’m a Time Lord,” was his only reply. “There we go Old Girl, it won’t be long now.” He lightly caressed the console. “Come on Rose Tyler, let’s go meet your parents,” he said with a grin.  
\--

Rose Tyler, member of the twenty-first century corporate grind,” the Doctor quipped as she pushed her way through the revolving door.

Rose poked her tongue through her teeth and shrugged stiffly in her jacket. She kept awkwardly pulling down the sleeves. The Time Lord looked at the pavement. He didn’t do laundry. Nonetheless, when the jacket had shown up on the reading chair it had been cleaner and smelt like detergent from the 25th century. The label said it had a blend of fifteen different hybridized flowers mixed together for optimum freshness and there was supposed to be fluffiness. Wasn’t a hybrid a sort of blend and mix of genetic material? Semantics! He sighed to himself. English had always been too complicated and simple at the same time. It was amazing that language survives for so long.

“C’mon, yeah?” Rose was knocking on the glass next to the rotating door. The Doctor smiled with a nod and smoothly joined her inside the building. “Scared,” she said with a challenge.

“Scared? Me? Never! If I was scared, I would never freely admit it. Maybe once or twice,” the Time Lord replied brushing back his shortened locks. “What now?” He reached in his pocket and produced his sonic screwdriver.

“No.” She gave him a playful shove. “I work here and you’re a consultant. We get you a badge,” she continued. She pushed the sonic back into his pocket. “You’ve had to check-in places before. You know,” Rose trailed off as the Doctor looked at her unblinking.

The two approached the front desk that was manned by a very perky redhead. “Welcome to Torchwood London, Miss Tyler. May I see your badge?”

Rose smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries as she presented a small id badge. “Who is this with you now?” the Red head Rose called Cynthia asked, peaking over Rose’s shoulder.

“Ah Hello, I’m the Doctor.” He smiled.

“Doctor?” Cynthia asked with a pause to her typing.

“Don’t worry Cynthia, he’s Doctor John Smith. He’s a specialist I met on my last mission. Just give him a badge and we’ll head over to the meeting in development,” Rose added.

Cynthia eyed the Doctor curiously and continued to do an awful lot of typing. She picked up the phone and announced the presence of the pair to an extremely elated party on the other line. “Oh no Rose, go right to the Commander’s office. He sounds excited.” The Doctor ignored Rose’s frown. He made his badge with a big v dance in front of her face. Rose just shook her head.

"Well, get ready to meet my dad, Pete," she said quietly. "He's not going to like this," she murmured to herself. The Doctor smiled brightly down at Rose who was worrying her lip. The two walked hand and hand into the elevator. The Doctor swung Rose's arm carelessly.

"Don't worry, parents love me," he whispered in her ear. "It's mostly governments and religious institutions you have to worry about," he explained brightly.

"Like UNIT?" Rose asked cheekily.

"I still do that?" Rose answered noncommittally with a shrug.

"Almost there," Rose said breaking the silence. "Feel at ease to speak freely here. Torchwood security is top of the line. No secrets leaked here." She put two fingers to her lips and shook her head.

The elevator doors opened with a cheerful ding. "Oh I like that noise. Rose, remind me to remember that noise," he said offhandedly. Rose was already halfway down the corridor. He easily caught up with her in a few strides. When had they stopped holding hands? "Are bugs something you have to worry about on a daily basis?"

"Security is of utmost part of Torchwood policy, Doctor Smith," Rose replied automatically.

"I see. Quite so, very apparent," the Doctor murmured, as he mentally went over the contents of his satchel.

"Here we are, Pete Tyler Commander of Torchwood." Rose smiled as she pulled on the big opaque glass doors to his office.

A balding, middle age man bearing a resemblance to Rose stood up and extended a hand. "Doctor Smith it is a pleasure having you on for consultation on this project."

"Commander Tyler it is a pleasure to finally meet you," the Doctor said coolly eyeing the room. Pete sat down at his desk and pushed a few buttons. The doors closed, the lights got a reddish tint, and there was a faint hum. Pete gave Rose a thumbs up. 

The Doctor took out his screw driver and scanned the area, adding to the red light. "Your security seems to be in order. There are no additional eyes or ears in the room," he said to the man. "Hello again. I'm the Doctor."

"You don't remember me?" Pete asked uneasy. "The Cyberman? Torchwood on your world? I can see you regenerated, but did you hit your head or something?" Rose smiled.

"No, Dad. It's the Doctor! He hasn't met you yet. He's from the Doctor's past."

"Does this happen a lot? You meeting people who've met you, or you've met that don't know you?" The Doctor nodded. "Isn't this bad for time? Can't we swap you out for the other one?" Rose glared at her Dad.

“I’m the Doctor. I’m still a Time Lord and I can see how the timelines are changing. I can fix whatever needs to be mended,” the Doctor replied calmly. “Reality is fracturing, that is why your dimension cannon has been working and my TARDIS got sucked through. I expect you detected the TARDIS quite a while ago.” The Time Lord nodded to the reports on his desk. “Am I the cause of this extra surveillance?” he asked as inquisitive eyes scanned the room.

“We’ve been having trouble with the Government stepping in the past few months. They’ve wanted to acquire some of our more dangerous weapons to defend our country. The President has been very persistent especially after the War. People are afraid.” 

The Doctor frowned.

“There was a War with the Cyberman. There are still some mucking about. After what we saw of Torchwood in my world we are trying to make a different one. Dad is very protective of development.”

“Please tell me, the future me disapproves of you developing technology from alien wreckage. The road to hell is usually paved with the noblest of intentions,” the Doctor said softly. “Is your government aware of the TARDIS?”

“Not so much. Your bio-scan just appears odd on our sensors and activates the bugs that I have strategically left. You might end up on a biopsy table if they totally knew,” Pete said.

“I regenerated into this body on an operation table and I don’t want to do that again,” the Doctor said with a chuckle.

“Well then, what are you exactly doing here? Did you find the right Doctor?” Pete looked over to Rose. She was trying to fight off tears as her eyes became glassy.

“The Doctor, my Doctor is dead. Something has changed, he drowned. I saw him. I was too late.” The Doctor put a gentle hand to her shoulder without a thought.

“We already suspected that was going to happen, sweetheart,” Pete said.

“Something has changed my timeline. That’s why I am currently here,” the Doctor chimed in. “With the TARDIS we got the data we need to fix the point in my timeline and reunite Rose with my future self. You don’t have to tear holes in dimensions anymore. You do realize you all are making the tears bigger? We’ll just use the TARDIS.”

“He said coming here was impossible. He left her on a bloody beach.” Pete turned to the Doctor with a glare. How was he turning that pink? “He led her all the way to a beach in Norway. Didn’t even finish…”

“Dad! Future!” Rose interjected.

“Well, he’s the same man, ain’t he? This poor girl is trying so hard to get to him and keep the stars from going out.” Pete was now a lovely shade of red. “How can you come here and return her back to her original world so easily?”

“It’s quite simple actually. Yes, I am the wrong Doctor, but I am from the right point in time,” he replied with a crooked grin. “Something must have happened in my future that makes travel between dimensions impossible.” 

“Can she come back once the timeline is reinstated?” Pete asked. His face was fading to a peach-ish color. The Doctor shook his head. Pete looked over to his adopted daughter, he opened his mouth but only breath came out.

“She is not meant to be here. She never existed in this Universe. Therefore time is compensating around her for now, without proper manipulation or a TARDIS protecting her, I cannot guarantee how long she will be safe.”

“Well, he certainly sounds like the other one,” Pete chuckled as the Doctor stiffened. “How are we gonna tell Jackie?”

Rose shrugged. “We all knew this was gonna happen one day,” she replied and looked up at the Doctor. “I have a few days anyway, right Doctor?”

“I have to make some preparations. You have two or three days,” the Doctor replied. Pete was focused on the pair's interlaced fingers.

“Right, I guess I’m not getting my dimension cannon back,” Pete said morosely.

“Oh you can, it just won’t do anything anymore. Oh, it can still tell time but it runs five minutes fast, sorry. I can’t have you punching anymore holes in the fabric of reality.”

“Yup, that’s definitely your Doctor, sweetheart.” Pete smiled. “Go make your report and try to be creative with how you got the data. I guess the Doctor has his own work to do. I’ll handle your mother. Just go to the house after you’re done. Nice to meet you again, Doctor,” Pete said, extending his hand again. The Doctor grasped it firmly.

Rose ignored the curious looks from her co-workers as she grabbed the Doctor's arm.

"Is this really appropriate? Do you want to draw additional attention to yourself?" The Doctor looked over to a pair of gawking interns.

"Yup. That's the idea. Just follow my lead. You didn’t seem to care before," she said her tongue playfully poking through her teeth. He raised a curious brow but readjusted her arm to fit around his.

The Time Lord couldn't help notice that several eyes were following them as they walked down the sidewalk. Rose just smiled and pulled the Doctor in closer to her. They made their way to a nondescript bench a few blocks from Torchwood. Rose was quiet but seemed content.

"Should there be people taking pictures of us?" the Doctor asked dryly.

"Yup! Any other ears listening?" she asked. The Doctor took out his screwdriver and with a few clicks he smiled.  
"Not anymore. Why do you want people taking pictures of you, us?" The Doctor felt her comfortable weight lean into him. He could see distant flashes and hear clicks.

"I can't just disappear. Pete went to all that trouble creating this sort of long lost daughter story. The papers loved it. I'm the missing heiress. So when I go, I'm going to run away with a mysterious stranger." She leaned over and batted her eyes dramatically. Where had she found the mascara?

"A mysterious stranger you say," the Doctor said.

"We play it up for the cameras for the next few days. I say, well, you know goodbye." Rose's body went stiff. She was still playing with the sleeves of her coat. "Blimey, I think this thing shrunk. Can the void shrink your clothes?" The Doctor looked away with a shrug.

"So then Rose Tyler, what do we do now?" She was so warm at his side he didn't mind that the bench was digging into his back.

"C'mon then, we give'em a show, eh." She nodded her head over to some bushes. She took his face in her hands and pulled his hair back. "We need this all over the tabloids to look legit. We might even make the evening edition. They're kinda mad for that sort'of thing."

"Oh, I bet they would love it. Or are you just looking for excuses?" He leaned in closer.

"Hmmmph," Rose replied. The Doctor had closed the gap between them. The Time Lord was consuming Rose's lips. It was her mouth now. Well, the only word eloquent enough to convey the action in the tabloids was snogging or ravishing (if you went for a racy mag).

The Doctor was everywhere. She could feel his hands in her hair and sliding down her back. Her jacket was so tight, she was breathless. His tongue battled hers for an easily won dominance. She had to slip away for a breath of air that was quickly stolen. She felt something around the peripherals of her lobby. There was the blueish light she recognized from the Eye of Harmony.  
She pulled away and the Doctor looked at her quizzically. He was not breathless at all. (Stupid Time Lords and their respiratory bypass.) 

"What was that?" she asked.

"What?"

"That!" Rose pointed to her temples. "There was something near my lobby. Like this blueish thing calling or trying to get in."  
The Doctor frowned and let out a sigh. Everything had been so dark and gray. He felt old. His feet dragged heavier against the pavement every day. How did he not leave a path of cracks in his wake? The ghosts and ghouls of the Time War were constantly moaning, whispering in his head. But now, there was a golden light. His mind was drawn to it. It made things lighter. He didn't want to run as far.

 

"Doctor!" She nodded towards him. Suddenly, there was that golden light shining against his shields.

"Oh, you clever girl." He smiled. He kept his shields up and Rose pouted in concern. "You don't want to go in there right now. It's not the best place to be," he whispered darkly. "A Time Lord's mind is a bit tricky. The question is how you can do that? You're not supposed to have that. Humanity doesn't develop the skill for thousands of years and it's limited. Well, another question for the metaphorical pile."

He pushed himself past her shields and smiled. He felt like he was basking in sunshine even though it was cloudy. "You've already been invited," she replied with a shrug. "I guess that was enough of a show.” She gave him one last snog accompanied with some strategic groping. “Time to go do paperwork, lots and lots of paperwork." She slouched and her jacket started to tear along a few seams. "Well, you go and do your tinkering and calibrating. Need to be in ship shape. Stay in London. I don't want you slipping through a crack or nothing without me." She gave him a playful nudge. All the Doctor could do was push back.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Rose Tyler," he said grabbing her hand and showing off for the cameras. He never really had to show off, he was always brilliant.

"You haven't met Mum yet," Rose countered. There was a buzzing from her pocket. Rose took out a mobile and laughed. "Oh, you get to meet my mum in a suit. Suit and tie that is. No Byron or Victorian stuff."

 

"How many times are you going to make me change my clothes?"

"Are you scared of doing laundry?" Rose smiled. She held her sleeve to him, it was splitting in two. "It smells like the last time you tried to do my laundry. You lost a bet and had no money to repay me. I don't think we can fix it this time," Rose paused. "Are you blushing Doctor?"

"Time Lords don't blush, brood, and or do laundry apparently," he replied.

"I'll meet you at the TARDIS when I'm done with my paperwork. I have to start getting things in order," Rose said. She squeezed his hand and went through the revolving doors.

Rose Tyler sighed as she looked over her reports. She had to creatively explain how the dimension cannon had shorted out. She noted Dr. John Smith as a consultant on the project. In the conclusion of the report, she stated that finding the Doctor was no longer plausible and the project should be abandoned. She then wrote an eloquent, heart wrenching resignation letter. She couldn't help but grin the whole time.

Suddenly, the letters on her screen started to go all wiggly and her typing got slower. There was a buzzing in her ears that wouldn't go away. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the monitor. It wasn't her monitor anymore. It was covered in post-its with random circular script. She was in her lobby. "What, what is going on here?" Rose looked around to see blue eyes smiling at her.

"Hello there. You are in a safe place, aren't you?" His Northern accent made her heart skip a beat from the ache. Like the old photo she kept of him on her mobile.

"You're in my head again." Rose looked around. "Where are you?"

"I'm just calibrating the TARDIS so I can bring you through. I'm using you as a focal point. I was able to lock into you through the Eye of Harmony. Just like the future me with the crazy hair. Better you than that dandy that's walking around. Time is in flux enough"

"When are you?"

"I just gave Margaret to a new family, dropped you off at your Mum's, and dropped Jack off," he stopped abruptly. "Who bloody well knows where Jack is. I'll find him sooner or later. Now I'm in Cardiff, waiting to pull you through the rift."  
"Will I see you again," She went closer to him.

"I don't know," he replied darkly. "It's not just my timeline that has been changed. All these timelines converging on this Donna person is odd, seems to be a side note. I'm not at the right point to see," he trailed off shaking his head. "Never mind that now. I need you to concentrate." He came close to her and showed her an orange post-it with circular-script. "When you are ready, think of that as hard as you can. It's my coordinates."

"Right, why don't you tell yourself?"

"No, no, nope, don't think so. I don't get along well with myself. Anyway, future Rose Tyler, I'd rather deal with you," he said with a smile. "Gotta run, someone is trying to wake you up. You owe me a drink if it's Ricky the idiot." The Ninth Doctor faded from her vision.

"Rose, Rose, wake up!" A steady hand was shaking her shoulder.

"Oi, wha, what? I'm awake," she replied looking up at Mickey.

"Paperwork can't be that dull. Did you really find him? He's here? Pete didn't explain it all but he said that the Doctor was here. That I had to see it to believe it. Don't know what he means by that.” Mickey said.

"Blimey, didn't think you'd be excited to see him," Rose countered.

"Yeah well, if you're happy then I'm happy. Are you?"

"Yup. I am. I am also done with paperwork. So I guess you're coming to Mum's tonight?" She leaned back in her chair. She glanced at the clock on her screen. "Just gotta file and send and," she stammered, as Mickey rolled his eyes. "What?"

"He really is back. You never get this," he paused. “Giddy," he continued and waved his arms in the air hopelessly. "Pete also says this is for good. You're leaving. You're leaving again but this time it's for good."

"I can't come back."

"Can you stay? Would you stay if you could? You've gone through so much since the Doctor left. You and me have seen so much. You're different. We were close again," Mickey trailed off.

"Yeah, best mates you and me. We are defenders of the Earth." She got up and wrapped her arms around him. "You know I can't," she whispered into his shoulder.

"Yeah I know. You made your choice the moment you ran into that bloody blue box," Mickey said with a chuckle. "We could’ve had a good life together."

"But there is so much more out there. There is so much more at stake. You wouldn't go back to before would you?" Rose could feel Mickey's head moving. She didn't know if it was a nod or shake. She didn't look up from his chest. "You could come with us. Go back home." Rose stepped away.

"You know that wouldn't work. I got a life here. A good life. Someone has to keep defending this place," Mickey laughed.

"You met a girl," Rose said dead pan.

“Yeah maybe I did, her name is Martha. She's a doctor. I might have my own doctor," he teased. Rose stuck her tongue out. "Oh-ho, do you mean it's official? Has he said it back?" Rose was pale.

"We are what we are. It doesn't need defining."

"I'm gonna have a talk with him. Just you wait and see."

Rose shook her head. "Oh right, I'd like to see that. It's alright. It's brilliant. It's going to be fantastic." She gathered up her papers and waved him out of the office. "Well that is my last status report." She gave him a nudge and went down the hall. "See you at Mum's."

She cringed inwardly when she realized she owed the Doctor a drink.  
\--  
The TARDIS hummed as her doors opened and Rose Tyler entered. "Doctor? Are you there?"

"Yes, yes I'm here." He appeared from under the console a band of wires hanging from his teeth. His silver sonic was grasped in one hand with some sort of strange manual in the other. He put the wires into a socket.

"How's it going?"

"It's going slowly. Reality and the timelines keep shifting. I got into an argument with my future self. He will no longer speak to me. The one with the Northern accent as you would put it, and the leather. He does not like me at all. Did he contact you?"

Rose nodded. "Gave me some coordinates or something."

"Good." The Doctor folded a page in the manual and set it down.

"We have to go to the mansion. It's better if I explain all this to my mum. I'll just go find something to wear."   
The Doctor was tapping his foot and looking at his watch. The timekeeper had decided it would rather spin in aimless circles rather than tell time. He slammed it in spite and shoved it in his vest pocket. The time in this dimension was getting stale.

Rose cleared her throat as she entered the control room. "So whatcha think?" she asked shyly as she twirled her dress. She wore a dark pink halter that had an assortment of glitter; A lot of glitter, to be precise. Her blonde hair was held up by a fancy pin. The silver pin had elaborate roses that peaked through the curly locks.

"You look beautiful," he admonished. "Should I get a top hat or something? Maybe a cane?"

"Are you trying to be the guy on the Monopoly box?"

"I just feel under dressed. Maybe a bow tie," he mused.

"I don't think you need all that yet," she replied as she straightened his tie. “Ready, mysterious stranger?" Rose linked her arm around his. His feet felt lighter with every step.

The ride to the mansion was uneventful. Rose answered minor details about her life in Pete's World. She gave monosyllabic responses when he asked what happened during her jumps with the dimension cannon.

"Inside the house should be okay. You just hafta be Dr. John Smith for a little while. My Mum loves throwing these parties. She's a pro by now. Keeps Vitex stock up. Or, I mean that is what she claims it does. Oh, Tony is going to love you."

The Doctor was surprised by the size of the house, as Rose drove up the gravel path. "My mum redid the whole thing. We didn't have much money back home. Now she has everything. More than everything, really."

The Doctor was able to smoothly open the driver side door and help Rose up. "How do you walk in those?" He pointed to her heels.

"No running today. I hope. I also got a pair of flats in my bag. Y’know just in case." She winked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always loved <3 thank you for reading


	4. Chapter 4

Change in Temp  
By Kimmzie

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who  
Author's Note: Read, review and enjoy  
\--  
It took less than a second for Rose to get in the door and Jackie Tyler came at her. From the look on the woman's face the Doctor wanted to run. Rose pushed him behind a vase of some sort.

"What is this? Snogging on a public bench? Rose Marion Tyler, what is all this going on? Do you really think you can hide him behind a plant?" Jackie said, as she glared at the vase. “Don’t think I can't see you! C'mon, I know it's you. Did it again, didn't you?"

The Doctor stepped out smoothly as one could from behind an ornamental fern. Rose grabbed a leaf from his hair and he straightened his jacket. "Now there, I did nothing wrong," he said with a grin. 

Jackie Tyler did seem to resemble Rose… This is why he did not do parents.

"No!" he interjected as Jackie was about to speak. "There is no need to make a scene," he continued in a soft, measured tone. 

Jackie looked at the Doctor as if he had two heads. "Did he hit his head or something?" She asked turning to Rose. "Does he need tea again? He's not yelling, rolling his eyes, or jumping about. Are you alright, Sweetheart?"

"No Mum." Rose smiled shaking her head. "He's just different. I'll explain upstairs, yeah? Doctor you just go and mingle."

"Lovely to meet you Mrs. Tyler," the Doctor said with a nod of the head.

"Did he just bow? Are you sure he didn't get hit on the head or some weird space disease?” 

Rose steered her Mum up towards the grand staircase and gave the Doctor a quick wink over her shoulder.

The Time Lord straighten his shoulders, smoothed back his hair and went towards the bar. What would Rose drink? As he went through the room, there were a few familiar faces from the hallways of Torchwood. Timelines came to him easily in this body. Everywhere he went there was a glimpse of what a person could or would become. 

When he felt the urge he would nudge people in a certain direction. They would change an answer on an exam, turn a different direction, say hello to the ‘right’ person. All were just small minute details in the grand scheme of the Universe. Apparently, some woman from Cheswick not turning left had derailed his whole future. He noncommittally ordered some kind of fruity drink from the menu for Rose. It looked pinkish. She liked pink.

"Well, well, well," a low voice said from behind him. "It's you isn't it? I saw the picture in the tabloids and couldn't believe it. I see you changed your face again."

The Doctor looked over to the younger man. The Time Lord inwardly sighed, he had a feeling this human was just starting on some practiced speech. Speeches were only truly good when they came from him. Him and a very small pool of very talented people. 

Tragically, the pool was a puddle. 

This man's timeline was connected to Rose's very closely. Even now they floated closely together throughout the fabric of reality. 

"Mickey, is it?" The Doctor frowned when he took a sip of his drink.

"Yes it's me! Doctor," he said shortly. "You can't even remember me? Mickey? Rickey the idiot?" Mickey took a gulp of something that smelt like whiskey. A very cheap whiskey, but who was he to judge.

"I apologize. You know me," he said with a sigh. "I have not met you yet." He raised the martini glass. "I can gather that you are Mickey Smith. Hello, I'm the Doctor. Cheers," he said, taking a sip of the drink. It tasted better this time, something like apples covered in pixie dust.

"Y'you're from the past then? Before the Doctor met Rose?" 

The Doctor nodded, taking another sip from the drink. 

"And you're just snogging her on a park bench," he said with a sneer. Mickey crinkled his nose and rubbed it, scowling. "How long have you known her? She's known you for years. Searched for you for years."

The Doctor stood very still and was very quiet. He looked at the reflection of the man in his glass. Quietly he opened up his time senses to be ravaged. He wanted to see what Mickey Smith was, could be. Screams chilled his body and curdled blood as they leaked through as a sort of static. The Time War was still at his heels. He shut them out! He could hear the morose requiem of stars going super nova. But now there was Mickey Smith, he was a strong red line that encircled Rose's for her whole life.  
He didn't go into details. All he wanted to know was if he loved her. He felt the warmth connecting the two streams. Love was the stickiest glue. He refused to go deeper. There was flash of a new attachment; a new pink line was starting to encircle Mickey's timeline. Martha.

"Hello! Are you even listening to me?" Mickey was very close to the Doctor's face. He was now snapping his fingers inches from his face. The Time Lord didn’t have the time for this. He was finding the human’s alcohol soaked breath on his cheek and constant snapping a nuisance.

"Just a moment if you please!" The Doctor backed away. "You love her don't you?" He asked in a whisper. "There was a tiny hope that if you waited long enough, fought hard enough, you could get her back. That she would love you again."

"Stop it!" Mickey murmured. "We're best mates, that's all."

"Love is strong. Strongest thing in the Universe, really. Someone could market it as a sort of glue, I imagine. It can tie timelines together for years. Love changes, matures and enriches them in the best case scenario. Love can also become obsessive, toxic, and corrosive. It can do a lot of harm and hurt in the worst case scenario. Usually the good and bad balances out.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, you’ll figure it out sooner or later.” The Doctor knocked his hand on the bar and got another drink. “Aren't you both better from the point where you started?" The Doctor raised a brow and took the new glass. "You have every right to come with us and return to your home. You can try to pursue Rose." 

Mickey eyes grew wider and the human swirled the ice cubes in his drink. 

"But, I believe both of us know my intentions." He pointed at a magazine on the bar. "I believe you have also witness my future selves intentions."

"I don't know Doctor, what are your intentions?" Mickey said in a mock impersonation. "Snogging? Leaving her behind? You always leave. You have left her in London, on a spaceship, in Norway, always leaving her behind and alone."

The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "If you haven't figured it out by now then there is no use in continuing this conversation," he said through his teeth. "Does it really need saying? Simple human words don't convey enough. Your language is so small and limited. All this curiosity, emotion, creativity, and everything and you are so limited by your semantics."

"What?"

"You humans are thick-" 

The Doctor was cut off when Mickey gave him a right hook. The Time Lord braced himself against the bar. His knuckles turned white as his fist gripped the fancy counter.

“Well, you are thick too, mate. You will not hurt her again.”

"Call Martha back," he said and walked away.

Mickey reached in his pocket and saw that he had a new voice message. Martha Jones' photo pleasantly smiled up at him from   
the screen. He looked up and the Doctor was gone.  
\--

"What did you do?" Rose asked as she saw the Doctor's bruising eye.

"It'll be gone by morning. It's just a minor flesh wound." He held a glass of ice cubes to his cheekbone and leaned back in a chair. "Some of your compatriots found my explanation quite thrilling."

"Mickey says it was a ‘misunderstanding.’ My Mum didn’t find you, did she?” 

The Doctor laughed. 

“I don't know. Mickey was on the phone and didn't want to talk about it. Are you gonna talk about it?"

"I think both parties made their view on the subject matter clear." He looked out the doorway to the thinning crowd. "How did your conversation go?"

"She wants a word with you after the party."

"A word? Haven't done much of that. Is that normal?" 

Rose answered with a grin. “All you do is talk. Haven’t heard you stop much since I’ve met you…”

“We’ve done other things than talking Miss. Tyler.” The Doctor shifted in his chair and leaned his head back. ‘Do you want to do something else?’ The words whispered and echoed in her lobby. 

“Hmm. Anyway, she doesn't think you're diseased anymore."

"Now that's a silver lining," he replied. "There are some awful things you can catch out there." He slouched further back into the chair.

"It can't be that bad." Rose leaned against the arm of the chair. The Doctor placed a cool hand on her leg.

"Oh, this?" He gestured to the glass. "No. I had this awful shot of something that tasted like a pear while I was waiting for you. Terrible stuff. I'm trying to counteract the..." the Doctor was cut off as Rose kissed the top of his head. She handed him a glass full of more pink stuff. He gingerly took a sip and toasted her.

"Strawberry-banana," they said in unison.

"Better?" she asked. Somehow she had ended up in his lap. "I had to explain to my Mum why I was," she ended in a sigh. "I don’t know my head hurts too.”

The Doctor handed her the glass and she smiled. “No, I’m good. I had to tell her why I was with a man I've only known about three days. It took some explaining to convince her that you were the same man. Time travel and dimension hopping tend to complicate things. I had to point out she was married to an alternate version of her dead husband. That kind of made her go quiet. She doesn’t do that much. So good luck!" Rose said brightly.

The Doctor finished his and took a gulp from her glass. "Blimey, does that stuff even work on you? I tried a few drinking games with you…"

"Sometimes out of necessity. But no, I’m immune to certain things, or my body can alter how I process it. Then no harm no foul. That’s why I also keep a piece of celery in my pocket. Used to wear it out on my jacket at one point.”

"Well, this human is going to drink up." She reclaimed her glass, slapped his leg a few times and went towards the bar. "It's my going away party."

A few hours and shots later, Rose found the Doctor entering the front door. She leaned against the rail of the staircase and smiled. "Where'd you go off to?"

"I took a car to the TARDIS. I needed to attend to some details about our trip." He shrugged out of his suit jacket. "Is the party over?"

"Yup! Mum is in bed. So...you're safe for tonight," she said with a wobble.

"I'm sorry I have to do this," the Doctor said with a sigh. "You're going to need all your faculties." She cringed at the yellow bottle he pulled from his pocket.

"Oi, where did that come from? Eww, no. Not the yellow stuff. I had it once." Her face morphed into a horrified grimace.

"Well then, you know what to expect. It will cancel out all the toxins in your system, including the alcohol."   
She pouted and took the bottle. It was gone in one gulp.

"Woah! Talk about a head rush," Rose said. "I guess I got a little carried away. It was just nice to be at home."   
The Doctor scowled, defining the fine lines around his features. 

"To be normal. I don't know. Like it was one last hurrah." The Doctor took her hand and hung his head. "It's like there is a storm coming all of a sudden."

"You have no idea," he whispered into her hair. "Come on, off to bed. Sleep it all off," the Doctor said in a lighter tone. "No, don't. Just leave it for now." He held up his hand as Rose tried to question him. "Do you trust me?"

She nodded.

"Off to bed. For now, just off to bed and leave it at that."  
\--

Rose snuggled into her comforter, as she pulled it closer. The Doctor had bid her a quiet good night at the door with a kiss to the hand. Unfortunately, he had rigidly perked up and murmured something about fixing the stabilizers. With a stiff bow he had turned swiftly on his heels and was gone. There was something unsettling in the air. She felt as if it was the calm before the storm. With more rumination, Rose decided she would go after the Time Lord. She turned over in bed and met a familiar pair of brown eyes.

“And here you are Rose Tyler, defender of the Earth. No, sorry that doesn't sound right. Rose Tyler defender of, oh well, the Universe really, the whole Multi-verse.” He was leaning against her dresser, but he shouldn't be here. He was dead. There was a pit settling at the bottom of her stomach. The Oncoming Storm was nigh.

“Doctor?”

“Correctomundo, Oh, and I said I would never say that again,” he replied.

“Are you alright? I mean I don’t even understand how you’re here. How are you here?” Rose questioned as she started to get up from her bed. She pinched herself a few times. The Time Lord with the great hair was still there grinning at her.

“Rose, I really don’t know. I was with Queen Elizabeth in the 1500’s, we got married and stuff got fuzzy. Good Queen Bess,” he said with a crooked grin. There was a strange manic gleam in his eye.

“You got married?” Rose asked in a huff. “I didn’t know you were,” she ended in a sigh.

“I thought she was a Zygon,” he answered simply. “Forget it Rose, that doesn’t matter. There is something going on. This has already happened for me. Donna turned left and we were together again for a time. You fixed it.”

“Yeah, and you’re not with me now? You’re married to the Queen of England or this Zygon thing.”

“No, no, no,” the Time Lord stuttered as he came closer to her. “You’re back here, in Pete’s world with your family and a version of me. It’s complicated. You see, there is a second version of me with one heart that committed genocide. He can grow old with you and possibly have a family. You know, carpets and mortgages.”

“So I find you and I get stuck here again? On top of that, I get stuck with a second you- that is you, but isn’t? Is there a point to all this? Should we even be talking about this future?” she asked dumbstruck. 

The bed sank with the added weight of the Time Lord. He ran his fingers through his hair and bowed his head. “Does the other Doctor know you’re here, the posh one? He’s in the TARDIS getting ready for us to leave in a few days. We’re going to save you.”

Suddenly, the Time Lord perked up. “Ah yes, and that Rose Tyler is what I want you to do. Molto-bene, just the right thing to say. Oh, you are brilliant Rose Tyler, you are. Time is in flux. Reality is cracking and it’s all a wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey mess. I started getting memories from my eighth body and other bodies that I never had before.” His eyes turned darker. “You kissed me,” he said with a smirk.

How could his eyebrows go up and down that fast, and be that suggestive?

“Yup, and you kissed me the next two times,” Rose said, raising the stakes. “It’s not like we’ve never done that before.” The Time Lord stared at her and placed a light caress to her cheek.

“We snogged on a bench in public, in front of the media." He pressed harder and his fingers found her lips. "Is that really how you see me?” His hand continued to smoothly stroke and found a strand of hair. “Is that how devastated you can become all because I’m not there? I saw it all. All the stuff you showed him in your cinema. Nice lobby by the way.”

“You’re the one that saw it,” Rose replied with a laugh. She was rigid as a board, as the Doctor’s hands continued their exploration. “I waited five and a half hours on a space station. I’ve been ripping holes in reality to find you. I said I love you. What more do you need Doctor? I promised you my forever.” She could feel the blueish presence caressing at the door of her mind. 

She let it in and the Doctor sighed.

“Can’t you see? That’s what I want. I want forever with you! Time is in flux. Something has changed in my past and your future. But the pieces don’t fit. I'm missing something.” He hesitated and ran his hands nervously through his hair again. 

“If you pull any harder your hair is going to come out,” Rose teased. She gave it a playful tussle. The Doctor retaliated with a gently tug to Rose’s hair. That tug arose to some light tickling. This then escalated to tickling (camouflaged as heavy petting).   
This in turn resulted with Rose and the Doctor tangled up in each other’s arms. 

Rose was breathless.

“Well this is interesting, clearly you have found me.” The Eighth Doctor was leaning against Rose’s door frame. “Did you really think you could deadlock seal my TARDIS for long? I was going to let you talk like we discussed.”

“What'cha do that for?” Rose asked getting herself from under the Doctor. Her hair seemed to be caught on one of the buttons of his suit. The Doctor didn’t notice. He was too busy trying to stare down his past self. Rose finally tugged it out.

“Still running from the Time War I see. Did you try to go to the end of the Universe for hope yet? I wouldn’t. It’s not that bright,” the Doctor said darkly. “Just wait until you return… the choice you made ended it all for us. You’re not going to like who you turn into.”

“Well, I’m still me. I guess you've already been through all that. Anyway, you find hope in different ways and I seem to maybe make it through,” The Eighth Doctor replied.

The Time Lord on the bed tried to ignore how his former self was looking at Rose. The Tenth Doctor's hand grasped Rose's shoulder.

“So, you’ve come to change your past? Is that why you’re holding on? Your timeline has ended in this stream. You shouldn’t exist.”

“I’ve changed enough fixed point in time. Time can be rewritten. But, it went wrong,” he replied. “I went back to the Time War. I actually just left it again.” 

The Eighth Doctor frowned. “Is that why I am here? Why time is warping around her.”

The pinstriped Doctor nodded. “The Moment is coming. The Time War will end and there will be consequences. I made a choice. Apparently, I just had to go pop back and make it again…”

“What’s the problem?” Rose asked looking confused.

The Eighth Doctor grabbed a chair that was nearby. “The problem is there is a natural tempo and beats to the flow of time. It kind of goes about like a song. Being here is wrong there is a sort of dissonance to it, like everything is not in tune.”

“Okay.”

“When I got here there was a change in tempo and key to the music. Usually, the changes are gradual and easy to deal with. Like a normal marcia moderato tempo to a prestissimo tempo. This time, only for an instant, it kind of just goes into a rallentando, and stops when I look farther down. Everything is out of tune and sounds wrong. I’m getting a headache from just being here.”

Rose raised a brow and tugged on the Tenth Doctor’s sleeve. “Why are we talking in all musical metaphors? I like music and dancing as much as the next girl.” 

The Eighth Doctor crossed his arms and shrugged.

“Oh that, sorry I didn’t really notice. He loves classical music. Great stuff it is. I loved that phase. I was talking fancy time travel talk and that’s how it translated. We are near his TARDIS, so his translations. ” The Doctor in the rumpled pinstriped suit smiled.

“Sorry time is hard to explain. Let me see. The slow one tempo is about 85 beats per minute a moderate pace. Just around the pace of a human heart. The faster pace is very, very fast. That’s over 178 beats per minute. Something that fast on a classical instrument sounds like drunken cats howling. That is, unless you’re very good. And yes, I’m going through a classical music phase.” the Eighth Doctor replied, stoically. He wore a blank mask on his face. “I see something similar happened to you?” he asked his future self. 

“Yes, basically it felt like that. I was in 1500’s England and got into my TARDIS. And then it was like time was spinning around me in a tempest. There was a golden light everywhere. The TARDIS shut down and I ended up here, Pete’s world. I don’t even understand how the TARDIS is keeping the paradox away. I feel like another fixed point in time has been changed. I’ve been here before. It feels very off this time. Well, more so than last time and we were dealing with an invasion of The Cybermen."

"Well, at least I’m not the only one."

"This is not what originally happens. She does it on her own,” the Doctor said with a confident nod towards Rose.

"Well, that is a surprise. We both know that there is no such thing as a tiny event. Especially, when we're crossing our timelines."

"I think we can fix the problem with three Time Lords there."

"You're including the Northern one in on this, aren't you?"

"Correctemundo! Oh there I go again. I don't think that works, does it? Rose, stop me from saying that." The Tenth Doctor's freckles danced, as he cringed.

"Excuse me. Doctor. Doctors. Won't there be reapers if you go about changing things? Don't I get a say in any of this?"

"Why don't you want to find me?" the pinstriped Doctor's voice wavered.

"Did I get a choice?" Rose whispered. She was trembling. "Did I get a bloody choice, Doctor? I find you and leave you again.” She pulled away from him. “You leave me! You sent me home during the Daleks! You left Sarah Jane. You went to France through the time window. I could see her. Faint traces of her every time you came into my lobby. But I didn't care. You sent me here, during the Daleks and Cyberman! Apparently, you leave me here again... Even when I fix this. I get you back. You just leave me." Her hazel eyes were ablaze, as they darted in-between the two Time Lords.

"Oh Rose, you made a choice that day." The Tenth Doctor took both her hands. "I'm giving you a choice now, Rose Tyler. A choice very few people get to make. I, we can reset time as it was originally intended to run. I will make sure you forget him." He nodded to his counterpart behind him. "This version of me will also be gone."

"What will happen?"

"You will keep jumping with the dimension cannon. Ripping more holes in the fabric of reality. Which in hindsight is not too brilliant for reality. You find Donna and fix time. All sort of complicated bits happen; you know, spoilers. We end up in a beach in Norway, here in Pete's world."

Rose tried to free her hands and turn away.

"Just wait. Let him finish." The Eighth Doctor urged her from the corner.

“I didn't have much time because the part-human Doctor came out of a two way biological meta-crisis."

"Haven't heard of that one yet. So, this Donna had your, our mind?" The Eighth Doctor chimed in. 

His counterpart nodded. "She was gonna burn,” the Tenth Doctor said darkly.

"So you had a spare Time Lord. You just thought you would leave him here with me?"

"Oh, Donna was so much better at explaining this sort of thing." The Time Lord ran a free hand through his spikey hair. "Does it really need saying? He could tell you the one thing I can't tell you." He let go of her hand and hunched over.

"Remember, we are full Time Lords. We're not a human, different courting rituals and all that nonsense," the Eighth Doctor added cautiously.

"I said Rose Tyler. He said the other thing," the Tenth Doctor said gesturing to the empty air. "He could give you one life. You could have children, a house, a job, and be with your family. You even got a piece of TARDIS coral to grow. He is me, same man-same mind, but he has one life."

"You keep saying that. One life. I haven't changed my mind. I want to be with the Doctor." She looked between both the Doctors, past and present- or however that works. "Nothing needs to be said. Oh, if the internet ever knew that this sort of thing could happen. I don't even wanna go there," she said shaking her head cheekily.

The pinstriped Doctor's posture straightened. He smiled over to her, "Rose Tyler, I was waiting for that answer. Well, not exactly that answer. It get's a little too, well... Did you ever see those fifty-second century romance novels Jack would read? Awful stuff. Hurts my head just thinking about it. I promise that you will be given a choice."

"How do you plan on proceeding? We can't stay in the same place too long." The Eight Doctor added.

"Especially here... If my Mum finds two of you she will go mad." Rose was turning a dark shade of her favorite color.

"Miss. Tyler, I can solemnly swear I am up to no good. But yeah, don't really want to run into Jackie right now. I'm already a dead man," The Tenth Doctor said cheerfully.

"I was referring to adding more gasoline to the fire. Causing more of a fracture or paradoxes."

"Oh, you're just trying to get her to yourself. We already have a pair-o-docs. Ha!”

“Well that is just tragic. I seem to lose all my whit in old age.”

“Uh-huh. I know all the thoughts that are popping into your head. I can see in there. You’re so romantic and poetic. All doom and gloom with a smattering of rose petals. It can't get much worse."

“Shall I repeat the thoughts that are popping up in your head?” His younger self challenged. “You are definitely up to no good.”

"Do you realize you're arguing with yourself?" Rose asked with a laugh. "Seriously."

"I tend to argue with myself when our timelines converge. I've even given myself the silent treatment." The Eighth Doctor frowned.

"Oh, is he not talking to you, really? I was such a good brooder then. Remember Rose?"

"Time Lords do not brood. Do you want to tell her the plan or should I?"

"Don't worry, I got it." The Tenth Doctor turned his attention to Rose. "You know that this is risky. We are changing a point in time that is warping reality. Stars are disappearing. Your whole life is may turn out to be different. It's going to be a little dodgy. Very dodgy. I shouldn't exist here."

"You're going to have to be tossed around a bit." the Eighth Doctor added. "We have to get Donna to turn left. Then change the events around..." 

"Ah yes, We have to change a couple of details about when we get reunited, again. He'll know what to do," the Tenth Doctor said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Rose. I can't stay. I have to go again. Don't worry he'll still be here. It'll straighten itself out."

"Are we ever going to address the paperclip thing?"

"Later. I'll see you later. Gotta run, like always." The pinstriped Doctor got up and started towards the door. He stopped when he felt tension on his left hand. Rose was squeezing his hand ever so tightly. Her desperation made five half-moons on his palm.

"Doctor."

"I will see you again. Don't you trust me?" he asked. His voice softly caressed the words. The blueish light retreated from her lobby. She nodded and loosened her fingers. Then he was gone.

"Where'd he go?" Rose looked over to the Time Lord that was left.

"I'm not too big on goodbyes. He's sort of slipping through the time stream. Stuck in a sort of limbo of what happened to him and what is happening to us. He really does talk a lot. Do I talk that much?"

"Both of you got a gob," Rose teased.

"You understand that you've made a choice. It's going to get complicated. Time is a mess right now. We are about to stoke the flames and raise an inferno." He sat down in the spot next to her.

"A'are you happy with all this? With me? Do you want your future to change?"

"I believe I've made my intentions clear. As clear and comprehensive as archaic Time Lord Relationship Protocols will allow. They are a bit stiff. I'll give you the spark notes or something on it."  
\--

She leaned into the Doctor, wrapping her arms around his waist. She dug her face into his shoulder and tried to lean him down unto the bed. There was some glorious friction as her body tried to anchor him down.

"I need to go back to the TARDIS," he said hesitantly. Rose gave him an insistent tug. "Trust me, you do not want to be in this reality if I don't go there. It's just off the grounds, I should be back by morning." He gave her a peck on the head. "I also believe someone is calling you." 

The Time Lord smoothly touched her temples and she was out.

Rose felt disoriented. Her hands wobbled to find something solid and rested on the back of the jump seat. A large arm clad in leather covered hers.

"So then, you agreed!" he said cheerfully. She didn't know that he could smile that much.

"Agreed to what?" she replied with a giggle, as he came closer.

"Oh I know Rose Tyler, I remember the whole thing." He gave a casual tap to his head. "Remember, brilliant me, I remember everything. We're going to change time. Not only that, but my personal history and a fixed point in time. Breaking all the rules, we are!" He was closer to her.

"Oi, this is just getting confusing. I go looking for you for so long. Then, three of you pop up." She put an extra pop to the "p."

"It happens, sometimes I cross my own time stream."

"You said we're courting, or courting rituals, or something," Rose said cheekily. She laughed, as the Doctor's ears turned red. 

"Now you're blushing."

"Well, you promised me forever; I did take you out on a few dates," he said quietly. His body relaxed, as Rose leaned into him.

"I had to pay the first time!"

"Ah, and I bet now you owe me a drink?" Rose averted her eyes. "So I was right, Ricky the Idiot. When I see you next," he stopped as he saw Rose's eyes water. "What is all this, then? No tears," he said, evenly.

"But you won't, this is all just in my mind." Her head was low and she could feel herself shaking.

"Now you listen here, Rose Tyler. This is just as real as when you open your eyes. Your mind is the control center of your body. Every thought, feeling, and touch, it's all processed through here." 

He ran steady fingers through her hair, the touch was akin to two other pairs of hands that had preceded them this day. 

"No, don't think of them. This is my turn," he said, his accent getting sharper. "You have to agree to all three of us. Well you don't, but that's what Pinstripes wants. We already got the git-paperclip, and Sir. Jane Austen out of the way." She made a little noise when the soft strokes on her head went away. "In here, is much more intimate. You've been touching my mind ever since Lord Byron showed up. Probably before that, even."

Rose protested as the Doctor pulled away. "Why?"

"Hush now, do you really want to do this? This dimension jumping you've been doing will look like child's play. I can't guarantee it'll be successful. Reality could collapse. We can only keep the paradoxes off for so long."

"How are you going to even remember this? How are all you talking behind my back?" 

The Doctor frowned. "Time Lord, remember? I can lock and access the memories as needed. You've already been through all this, time is changing." She laughed, as he rolled his eyes. "We're just going to change it a wee bit more. It's just taking advantage of the situation. Don't forget, I'm fantastic. Therefore, the other two should be. Not as good as me, but good. Most important we will stay together, according to Pinstripes. He seems just a bit off without you."

"Yes, I choose this. If it goes awful and pear shaped, I bet you can fix it." Rose raised an eyebrow. "You are fantastic, yeah? So we're like official?" It was half a question- half a joke.

He was silent and just looked at her. The gaze was the same one that would burn her from behind when she talked to a pretty boy. It was personified in the large hand that would dig into her sleeve and drag her back to the TARDIS when a stranger got too close. 

"Oh, Rose Marion Tyler, we've been dancing for quite a while." His eyes looked somewhere over her shoulder. "Not enough time for that now! You said, 'yes,' and I gotta get ready. I'll see you soon. Go dream about what apes dream about. Maybe cats, or something. I'll see you in a day or so."

Rose Tyler dreamt about a whole bunch of cats for the remainder of the night. At least they weren't nuns.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains several scenes that are NSFW proceed with caution.

Change in Tempo   
By Kimmzie  
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who  
Author's Note: Read, review, and enjoy  
\--

When her eyelashes fluttered open she saw a pair of smiling blue eyes. "Oi, Doctor!" She sat straight up in bed. His leather jacket lay discarded on one of her chairs and he was watching her in just a plain white oxford with a blue cravat. The sleeves were rolled up and it looked like he had lost the battle with the dryer.

"How long have you been there? What if my mum finds you?" She couldn't help realize but she was shrouding herself in her comforter.

"Shh," he said covering his mouth with two fingers. "Not long. Your Mother won't know, if we're quiet. Ever snuck around before?" he asked innocently, as he turned to the door. "I also used to the sonic so..."

"Excuse me Mister, and you've snuck around before?"

"Well no, not under the same circumstances. But I can be quite the master of secrets."

"Secrets? Usually when we go undercover, you talk a lot, we run, and stuff blows up." Rose mimicked an explosion with her hands and comforter.

"I'm not going to blow up your bedroom," the Doctor replied, dryly. "If you want to run about in your knickers, I won't complain," he said, reviving the same innocent tone. "I'm not sure what your mother would think..." the Doctor trailed off as Rose was turning that pink color again.

"Must've kick'em off my bottoms in the middle of the night. It was hot and all I could think of was kittens." Rose shook her head. 

"Oi!"

The Doctor smoothly took the bottoms from on top of the bed and tossed them across the room. He quietly joined her on the bed and let his cool hand meet bare thigh. Rose looked at him dumbstruck as the hand started to venture higher. The Time Lord challenged her with an eyebrow and put his other hand in her hair. His fingers easily combed through the knots and tangles. When Rose started to say something, he put two hands to his lips and smiled. Their weight sunk into her fluffy mattress. Some fancy theories about physics and weight distribution had them stuck laying down side-by-side in the middle. Well then, the rest was all Rose. She was very flexible.

The girl smiled down at him a cheeky grin. She was straddling him, her hips hovering an agonizingly close distance to his. He could feel certain parts of himself straining to be free for some contact. Both his hands smoothly encompassed her thighs and tried to shorten the distance.

She started to undo the buttons on his oxford with wordless curses. The Time Lord tried to assist, Rose shook her hand and put both his hands on her hips. He exerted a minimal bit of pressure on the lacy black of her hip. Oh sweet, beautiful gravity! Physics! Oh lovely physics, it was brilliant: motion, energy, momentum, gravity, friction. Friction was almost as good as gravity.  
Somehow his shirt was gone, Rose's nails were dragging torturous trails down his abdominal. The pink trail burnt a splendid ache along the design. Her hips were moving up and down in a chaotic grinding motion. He was a glad participant. The Doctor slid his hand inside the black fabric, and lightly started to stroke the clever nub he found. He covered Rose's mouth with his as she was going to let out a cry. Deft hands relieved her of her pink night shirt. He couldn't help but smirk. This was the expression he saved for only when he had done something really good.

"Rose Tyler, look at you, gorgeous thing, you," he breathed. His free hand gently caressed her front. Curious fingers found her left breast. She hid a squeak. Both his hands pinched in unison and she rubbed herself closer to him.

Small, shaky hands found their way to the hem line of his jeans. The Time Lord eagerly bumped his hips to her hands. Her hazel eyes were wide.

"Rose?" he asked, huskily.

"I just thought, are we really going to shag in my parents' house? Am I a teenager? Is this only a shag? Are we going to be like Time Lord married, or anything?" Rose shook her head. "Will he care?" she asked meekly. 

He tried to hide the sting.

"My, that's a lot of thoughts," the Doctor smiled, leaning back in her bed. That one clever hand never left her knickers. "Your family went out to do brunch. I didn't even know they do that here. We are in a bed, in a room, and indoors. You Rose Tyler, look spectacular. I could see a few worse places to do this." He shrugged. "Aren't we rushing into this whole marriage thing? Trust me, you'll know it's a Time Lord Bondage Ceremony there are robes, fancy language, and you'll probably fall asleep. I know there is a spark notes version to all this. And?" He turned his head.

"Will he?"

"No, the things he was thinking in this room last night, no lady needs to know about. Be careful of that tie...We can..." Something shifted behind Rose's hazel eyes, they became darker.

"Blimey, you talk a lot. Even with half your clothes gone," she panted, as he added moisture to his fingers and went faster.

"I've given speeches rousing rebellions in less," he laughed.

"Saved the world in your jim-jams," Rose said incoherently. Her hands found the buttons to his jeans and she slowly unclasped them.

"Turnabout is fair play, Ms. Tyler. I stole yours," he replied, as he raised his hips. She quickly divested the Time Lord of all the clothing that covered his bottom half. She ran her hands gently over his muscular calves, then thighs. She decreased her speed as she found the iliac crest of his hips, a bit of pink poking through her Cheshire grin.

"Where did your feet things run off to?"

"Feet things? Do you really care?" He slowed his fingers to small intricate circles.

"No, not really," Rose panted, as her hands cautiously rubbed the Doctor's shaft.

The Doctor hissed, and let two fingers delve into Rose. Oh, she was tight and warm. He quickly started to make a beckoning "come hither" motion with his fingers. Stretching her. Preparing her. Making her scream. Oh dear! The girl could yell. The noise made blood rush down to the flesh she so tenderly caressed. It was throbbing he could feel the beats behind his eyes. He needed more. His free hand grasped it and started to tug with her. Harder, faster, just more. More of everything.  
Rose's body was now flush against his. Her skin gave off a gentle warmth to his cooler ambient temperature. The receptors in his skin were firing happy shots through his synapses with each brush or grind of the skin. The pace was getting faster. The touches getting rougher. Rose hands were clawing at his back, leaving wounds he wore happily. Both left rough dark marks across each other's skin.

There was pressure, pressure everywhere. Both of them wanted more, both of them needed more.  
The Doctor looked up and said an expression her first Doctor would say from under the console. "Rose. Rose, we gotta stop," he said hoarsely, as she gave him a loving squeeze.

"Why?"

"This is embarrassing," he said, with a shake of his head. "Your parents are home. The car is coming up the drive."

"Ah, for a Time Lord. You know you're really rubbish at time sometimes," she said with a sigh. She wiggled herself out from under him. He let out a soft groan when Rose gave him one last hard tug. "To be continued?" she asked with a grin.

"Not in your parents' house like a pair of randy teenagers," he answered.

"What? The dignified Time Lord, Master of Secrets is scared of my parents? Probably just my Mum." Rose threw his shirt and jacket at him.

"Rose Tyler, I am fully capable of continuing what we were doing with neither heed nor hindrance to who hears us." He smirked at her and started to approach.

"Oi, Doctor. I surrender, okay?" She replied with a giggle. "I'm scared of my mum. What kind of paradox will it create if she makes you regenerate?" 

She ran away from the Time Lord to her dresser and grabbed some clothing. He didn't mind the view as she quickly started to dress. "No naked Time Lords in my bedroom." She motioned to his jacket. "Never thought I hear myself say that, eh?" She mused. The Doctor just smirked as he legged himself into his jeans and straightened his cravat.

"Rose Tyler, you are brilliant." The Doctor put a kiss to her forehead. "I'll go down and give you a moment." He left the room quietly, his hands behind his back.

Rose just rolled her eyes and got into her clothes. She then focused on doing her makeup. So much mascara, so little time. So much Time Lord, well, you know how it goes.

Downstairs the Time Lord smiled, as he greeted the Tyler family. "Hello," he said with a cool grin. "How was your brunch?"

"Hey, why are you coming from upstairs? Were you in my daughter's room?" Jackie pointed a shaking finger. "Can't wait to get your hands on her...Can't wait to take her away from us," Jackie's voice started to quiver.

"Mummy what do you mean?" A little voice asked from behind Jackie.

"Ah, and you must be Tony. Hello there, I'm the Doctor." The Doctor knelt down and extended his hand.

"The Doctor! Woah! They said you were here. I didn't believe'em. Do you really go to all those places?" The boy extended his hand. 

The Doctor nodded. 

"Can I come? I wanna go with Rose?" His voice became small.

The Doctor was quiet and turned to Pete as he heard Jackie make a sort of whimpering noise. He hid an inward cringe behind his most dashing smile. This is why he didn't do parents... 

"Pete, may I borrow your wife for a chat? Would you like some tea, Jackie?" Both Tyler's nodded wordlessly. "Tony, later I can show you my ship, if you'd like," he said over his shoulder.

He didn't have to turn around to know Jackie was following him. The kitchen was an imported Italian marble set-up which reflected everything. It was accented with small sparkles of minerals and gold. The Doctor explored his way around the cabinets going through pots and pans. Finally, he started the kettle.

"Rose said you wanted to have a word with me?" the Doctor broke the hostile silence. He spoke with hostile dictators that threw less daggers with their eyes and had less venom with every breath. Could Jackie Tyler breath fire?

"Yes, well. She said that you were ‘an earlier version of him.’ That's why you can bring her back."   
The Doctor nodded, and started going through the tea box. 

"You left her here. The first you said that you'd always bring her back to me. She came back to me. She has a life. She has her family." The Doctor's hearts clenched at the last statement.

"Jackie. I'm sorry, she can't. She's not meant to be here. This dimension is compensating around her. Subsequently, it's much safer to come with me than to continue these dimension hops."

"The girl is mad, I can't stop her. There's no stopping her when it comes to him," Jackie paused, "you. You're taking her."

"I believe she told you what she has chosen," the Doctor said stoically.

"She's my only daughter!" Her voice cracked.

"You didn't think she'd find me? Or hoped not anyway. You probably wanted her to find some nice human bloke, settle down and have a family," the Doctor said evenly, as he poured two mugs. Jackie nodded. "I offered her an ordinary life. Instead, she chose me, or him; however, you want to put it."

"You'll take care of her, right? Keep her safe?"

"Jackie, I chose Rose and I would rewrite time itself to keep her safe and with me." The Doctor smirked at the sheer truth of the statement. Mrs. Tyler took a sip from the mug and smiled.

"So, you can make tea now? I'm guessing that is a big deal for a Time Lord. Just keep her safe, Doctor. Let her go home where ever that ends up being."

"I will do everything in my power to keep her safe. Tea is marvelous, all those tannins and free radicals." The Doctor turned and stood abruptly towards the door when Rose entered the kitchen.

"So you two make up yet?" Rose asked, grabbing the Doctor's mug.

"It's alright, Sweetheart. I'm starting to understand. How much time do we have left with her?"

"The TARDIS will be ready in a day or so. I've had more assistance than originally anticipated. I'll see you a little later, I got some giggery pokery to do, as you call it." With a nod the Doctor went back towards his ship.

"Did he just bow again? Oh that one is nuttier than the other ones. Are you gonna be with him or the other one?"

"Mum, they're all the same man. You know that."

"Are all his bits there? You are shagging an alien."

"We're not shagging. He's fine Mum, bits and all. We're fantastic." Her Mum just gave her a blank stare. "What are we gonna do for my few last days?" Rose choked up a bit. 

Jackie Tyler spread out her arms and enveloped her daughter in a hug that would never last long enough.  
Rose's heart sank.

She was getting the Doctor, but losing her family. The family that had supported her when she was left on a beach. She clung to her Mum tighter than anything. Both had matching rivulets of mascara going down their cheeks by the end.

"So I say, picnic in the park. Just like you always wanted when you were little, Sweetheart."

The park was quiet and the sun was warm and kind. Tony ran around the play set like hyperactive tornado. The whole family ate packed lunches on a checkered blanket. Pete told stories about him growing up and making his fortune. Jackie told the most embarrassing stories of Rose in her arsenal. How Rose had discovered mascara when she was 5. How Rose had discovered she couldn't fly off the jungle gym when she was 7. The cream of the crop was the one of how Rose lit Mickey on fire their third date.  
\--  
Later that day, the Tyler’s returned home and Tony got to meet the great Doctor.

"It's bigger on the inside!" Tony exclaimed, as he ran in and out of the box.

"No trips! I don't want my son on Mars, or appearing ten years from now," Jackie Tyler's voice echoed into the console room.

"Yes, Mum." Rose sat back in an arm chair and watched her little brother tear up the place.

The Doctor came in just enough time to scoop him up as he was about to hit some buttons. "Eh there, that combination would cause several realities to collapse."

"I wasn't going to touch anything," Tony admonished. His hazel eyes sparkled like his sisters'.

"You weren't going to push these?" The Doctor pointed at a series of buttons and levers. He laughed as the child's eyes grew wide. "No, you're right. I bet you weren't"

"Did my brother almost blow up the Universe?" Rose asked, as she took a sip from her mug.

"The way time is right now...Probably would've just sent us to Belgium or blown a hole the size of Belgium in the Universe. It happens more than you think," he replied with a shrug. The Doctor shifted uncomfortably, and looked down to Tony. "Would you like to see more of the TARDIS?"

"Yes!" The tot took the Doctor's proffered hand.

"Rose, we'll be back soon." The Doctor threw a smile over his shoulder.

"Wait up, let a girl finish a cuppa'," Rose tried to chug down her tea. She cringed and coughed as the tea made her throat raw and tried to go into her wind pipe.

"Stay put, I won't lose him. The TARDIS loves kids. Not that I've had many aboard. I've only lost a few companions in here. I always find them sooner or later."

"I got lost for a day and a half once."

"That's not the TARDIS' fault. Trust me." 

The Doctor left the console room with Tony Tyler in tow.

"Yeah' trust'em," her brother lectured. Suddenly, the hallway the pair had entered disappeared.

"Blimey, they're ganging up on me," Rose muttered to herself. She readjusted in the chair and tried to soothe her scorched throat ironically with more tea.

"You know as I recall, it wasn't a day and a half. It was more like a day and a third. You turned right three times when you were supposed to turn left twice. We were also in the time vortex, so technically no time passed."

He was leaning against the doorway. His hair was darker in the waning light but it was silhouetted against the sunset. Such great hair made an impressive silhouette.

"How?" Rose murmured.

"I told you I'd come back. Miss me?" He beckoned her out the door and held out his hand.

"Where? What about..." Her heart was racing, she felt as if it was going to escape. His smile was as infectious as always, she could feel the corners of her mouth stretching. He was holding out a hand, wiggling his fingers playfully.

"He knows. Don't worry we got all this planned, and I never do plans," he added softly. "We're gonna get some fish n' chips. Just like old times."

Rose squinted her eyes as they adjusted to twilight. "We can't go to your TARDIS?"

The Doctor tried to hide a grimace. She could see the freckles on his face twitch. "That's not the best place to be right now. Fish n' chips, just like old times. By that, I mean usually you eat all my chips, but that doesn't really matter."

"Says the one that will only have them when they are served in newspaper, extra vinegar." 

Rose grasped his hand. Their fingers intertwined perfectly, but the Doctor's grip was tighter. She felt the blueishy line pounding at the doors of her lobby. She let it in. The Doctor's hand squeezed tighter. She saw the tightened muscled of his shoulders and his stride was ridged.

"Are we about to do some running?"

"No, just trying to be inconspicuous, among other things." He swung her hand playfully. "There's a car in the back of the property. Got any suggestions?"

"Master of Secrets, then?"

"Well, yes and no. I'm hoping to fit some of the pieces of this whole timey-wimey mess. I don't want this to you know..." 

He opened the car door for her.

"Go Belgium?" Rose smirked and the Doctor chuckled.

Rose shifted the car down the country roads in silence. The Doctor was looking out the window but was focusing on something in the distance. His brow was furrowed.

"Doctor?"

"Hmm? Sorry. I'm still trying to figure this out." Rose shifted into third and took the Doctor's hand along for the ride. "I gotta think, I'm missing something. Something has changed in my past, I just can't remember it. All I can see is a golden light, and I'm here. I'm not supposed to be here. I've been delaying things for far too long."

"But you are..." Rose said in a small voice. 

The Doctor smiled as he felt a strong golden glow envelop his blueishy line.

"Rose?" He perked up. "Rose, Rose, my brilliant Rose. Oh, I'm thick, getting senile at 906. It's been right in front of us. Golden light! It's all connected. The heart of the TARDIS, Bad Wolf, and your timeline." Rose slowed the car down as the Doctor started to fidget, make chaotic movements, and techno babble. 

Was that even English anymore?

"Hey, no freaking out in the car. You're strapped down."

"Don't you see! Bad Wolf. It had something to do with the Bad Wolf. ‘Oh Bad Wolf girl, I could kiss you.’ No wait, what was that?" 

The Doctor cringed and held his temples in pain. 

Rose swerved the car to the side of the road, as the quiet blueishy line started to oscillate violently in her lobby. She tried to reconnect with it but pulled away with a jolt. It burnt. The Doctor's face turned pink and veins throbbed as he hands clawed at his hair, and he collapsed into a ball. "No more. No more! No more," he spit through his teeth. "Gallifrey Stands."

"Doctor?" Rose put a gentle hand to his back.

"Allons-y," he choked out. His body became smaller. It was all rushing back.

"How many children were on Gallifrey that day?" A gold light pulsed in Rose's head, the words slipped out.

"Two point four seven billion. I counted one night. One lonely, dark night," the Doctor replied and looked up slowly to see that   
Rose's eyes were glowing, there was a rough snarl to her smile. It was dark and the glow from her eyes illuminated the slight curves of her face.

"Are you afraid of the Big Bad Wolf, Doctor?"

"No. How? I took the time vortex out of her. She would've burned... You're not supposed to be here." Rose shrugged her shoulders and her eyes flared brighter. "No, no, no. For once, I'd like to know what is going on. Why I'm here. What changed?"

"Everything. You changed everything: past, present, and future. All of you did. All of your clever bodies and ships, together. One big event. Trapped in one single piece of space and time. No More. You changed it. Forwards, backwards, sideways, everywhere. Time is bending and wrapping around the events." 

The Doctor carefully touched his blueishy line to the Gold thrumming in Rose's lobby. He heard the song that was always running through his head, the tempest of time fluxing and changing, the unending serenade. 

"I sent you here," she grinned.

"Why here?"

"You didn't want to go. You wanted a new destination. I want you safe, my Doctor." She leaned in close. "This little human wants so many things. She doesn’t know what she will become."

"Nope, not doing that again... I'm already a dead man," he stuttered.

"No more," she laughed. "This form was from your past, and future..."

"My future?"

"I get them mixed up. Rose Tyler left her life to integrate with the interface of the moment when your former self was deciding. Some say you have or will create it..."

"Now you're even making my head hurt. Gallifrey cannot be saved if I am here. These events cannot happen."

"They have and will. Still going on. Oh, all these things running through her head. Can't keep it up. My head is killing me."

"Get out of her then," the Doctor grounded out through his teeth.

"I'm connected to her. I just go to sleep. Ah! Too much in my head. It's all burning." That was Rose talking.

"Rose," the Doctor tugged on her shoulder. "Rose, you have to wake up." The Doctor asserted his blueishy line around the gold and screamed her name.

A name that no other person could see. It was written across time in space as a part of her.   
Her every action.  
Her every thought.   
It was written in every caress of her hand or sideways smile. 

It was the word that was written on her essence. Her soul. It was ineffable. "ROSE!"

"Woah," she whispered, slumped over the steering wheel. "What was that?"

"A puzzle piece." The Doctor said, dryly. "Are you alright?"

"Shhh. I feel like someone is tap dancing in my head." The Doctor did a quick scan of her mind and found the gold light strong and buzzing. "Think I need a drink or something." She shot him a grin. "Can you drive?"

"Can I drive? I can drive a lot of things. Including a ship that travels in time and space and is supposed to have several pilots. Rose Tyler, I think I'm insulted."

"Nah, you're just rude. Shhh. Take the wheel." Rose wobbled out of the car and pushed his lanky form over.

"Oi, that poked me," he said in the squeaky voice.

"I'm sorry the car is pointy. Drive." Rose pointed down the road. They were silent for a few tense seconds. "Doctor, Are you gonna tell me what happened?"

"Ah, well. I don't know." The clutch grinded as he shifted into 2nd around a corner.

"Doctor," she said quietly.

"No, no it's not that. I just don't fully understand it yet. Have you been having any headaches or black outs?" She shook her head and worried her lip.

"There was a thing in my head. It was like a feeling." She snapped her fingers. "And then, I just woke up. Felt like a sneeze."   
The Doctor sighed, and the car popped out of gear. The gears crunched and whined as he found fourth again.

"Ah, sorry. Lots of secrets and pieces coming out today. We should be playing Clue. Do they have that here?" He could feel Rose glaring at the side of his face. He was surprised his sideburns weren't singed. "Well, you seem to have part of the time vortex tucked away in that head of yours. Didn't get all of it out the first time."

"So what does that mean?" The Doctor was silent, and almost ran over a hedge. "Doctor?"

"It means a lot of things. I'll need to run some tests" He silently parallel parked the car.

"How'd you know where we were going?" He gently tapped his head and the blueishy line pulsated. "There is a greater telepathic link when I'm in your lobby. The connection seems stronger now. Especially after what you did this morning," he said offhandedly.

"Allons-y." The Doctor locked the car with a click of the fob. "I should do that with the TARDIS, park it like a car."

It wasn't the usual kind of chippy Rose frequented with the bright colors and pictures of the food on the wall. It was a pub. The kind of nondescript establishment you discover on a dreary afternoon, when your umbrella breaks and you’re soaking wet. The sign was faded so the name was unclear. 

"The chips here are gorgeous. Just wandered in one day." Rose squeezed his hand.

"Been worse places," he said with a grin. "Remember when we had to eat the pear slime?" 

Rose crinkled her nose. "You lick everything..."

"Everything?" He raised his eyebrows. "It's a good way to tell the chemical composition of a substance. Superior Time Lord taste buds."

"More pear for you to taste," she said with a bump of her hip. "Oh," Rose stopped. She put her hand to the Time Lords' chest. 

"No, no, no." Without thinking she tried to hide away in the Doctor's coat. The Doctor's hearts ran faster at her warmth.

"Um, Rose? Not that I don't mind you... under there. What?" His voice was a little squeaky. 

He saw a shaky hand point out from under the coat. He looked over to a table and tried to keep his jaw in place. Martha Jones.   
An alternate version of Martha Jones was sitting with Mickey. With the pheromones that was emanating from the pair they were engaged in a human mating ritual or on a date. He recognized that look in Martha’s eyes.

"Why are you hiding from him? He seems completely happy. More than happy." The Doctor asked, as he tried to keep Rose from falling into one of his coats inner pockets. Bigger on the Inside.

Rose pressed herself closer to his lanky frame. She smirked as the blueishy line started to buzz in her head. "Blimey, thick, and senile, you are. You have no idea about human dating."

"That sounded like Yoda." He laughed.

"No Star Wars here. Only Star Trek. So Spock, you really think my ex-boyfriend wants me around when he is on a date? He punched you. You're not supposed to be here," she whispered into his lapel.

"Woops," the Doctor said and started to slowly open his coat. "Too late now."

"For a Time Lord you are rubbish at time. Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish," she muttered.

"Usually only for awkward social situations. I'm usually right on time to save the Universe." He preened. Rose stuck her tongue out at him.

"Hello," Rose waved to a confused Mickey.

"Oh my God! Did Jackie kill him?" The Doctor frowned.

"No. He just kinda popped up. We're just getting some chips."

"Rose wait, what do you mean just popped up? What about the other one? How many of 'em are walking around? Is the leather one gonna show up next?"

"Mickey, it's complicated. Your date looks interested or confused in us. We'll say 'hi,' and leave you two to it." She smiled and fully emerged from the armor of the Doctor's jacket. The Doctor put his hands in his pockets. Martha Jones, he mused.

"Mickey, how are you doing? Haven't seen you, well, that hasn't happened to you yet," the Doctor said, while giving him a friendly slap on the back.

"How are you? Last I saw you, you had a different face, and I heard you were dead." He sniffed.

"Oh, you don't have to be all macho like that. Martha is a good one, she is. The death thing, I'm working on it. Better to not bring that up, or let anyone know I'm here." Mickey frowned. "I don't think Jackie wants two of me running around. My other self is a bit more civil." 

He shrugged.

"He's a walking paradox or something," Rose chimed in. The Doctor grinned grabbed Rose's hands and put on his brainy specks.

"So is time gonna explode or something?" Mikey asked. He was left trailing after the grinning pair. He was always a third wheel around those two.

"I'm already working on it. Well, one or two of me are," the Doctor said with a flippant wave. "Hello there." The Doctor approached Martha with a smile.

"Um, Hello," she replied. "Who are you? Friends of Mickey? Do you work for Torchwood?"

"I'm Rose and this is the Doctor."

"Doctor?"

"Oh just," Rose interrupted him. "Oi."

"Doctor John Smith and Rose Tyler, I used to work for Torchwood, put my notice in yesterday. I'm going on an extended holiday," she said with a smile.

"Oh my God, you're Pete Tyler's daughter, the Vitex Heiress. Weren't you in the..." Martha trailed off as she saw the Doctor.

"They can Photoshop anything nowadays." Rose waved her hand.

"Oh this lass, she has a rouge in every port," the Doctor said in a Scottish brogue rolling his r's. Rose just rolled her eyes. "Nice tae meit ye."

"Oh, are you from Scotland, then?"

"Gallifrey."

"Is that in Ireland?"

"Somewhere around there," his accent stayed. "Hou ye meet our Mickey?"

"Right, well he was on a case for Torchwood. My hospital, where I'm studying to become a doctor, got sent up to the moon by these intergalactic police called the Judoon. They were looking for some kind of illegal alien. A real alien. The oxygen was giving up and Mickey gave me his last tank of oxygen.”

"Ah, a platoon of Judoon on the moon," The accent tripped over the vowels and syllables.

Rose laughed.

The Doctor raised a brow.

"Mickey Smith Defender of the Earth," Rose said and gave him a peck on the cheek. "See you tomorrow, yeah? Big day and all that. Ach aye I got to go out and aboout." 

The Doctor stared at her unblinking."Dinnae do that. Just dinnae. "

Martha looked between the two, puzzled.

"Right then, Martha nice to meet you. Enjoy your dinner." Rose waved. "Mickey is a good one, he is. Our team only picks the best." She looked over to the Doctor who nodded and waved.

"Guid luck," he whispered over his shoulder as he followed Rose. His bown eyes were earnest when they met Mickey's.

"You know what Doctor? I'm in a better place than when I started." He wiped his face on his sleeve.

"Oi, boys sorry to interrupt but I'm on the date here too. Rose might be missing John." Martha smiled and tugged at Mickey's sleeve.

"A'm sairy, so sairy. A hae tae gang." The Doctor was gone in a twirl of spiky hair.

"So that's the bloke that took your girlfriend?"

"Is it that easy to tell?" Mickey sat up straighter.

"No. No, silly," She hit his sleeve gently. "It was the way you looked at each other. You also said that you dated the Vitex Heiress after a few too many last night on the phone. Was the Scottish bloke her boyfriend?"

Mickey stared blankly at her, his tongue played with his teeth a little. "Still trying to figure that one out," he replied with a laugh. "I punched him at a party last night." He smiled. "It's complicated."

"Have you heard about my family?" Martha responded. The two laughed.

"So are we going back to meet Queen Victoria, or Good Queen Bess?" Rose crossed her arms on the table, as the Doctor brought two pints over.

"A hae nae thochitie. A dinna ken."

"I get a feeling you have no idea what I'm talking about."

"Aye," he said with a nod.

"You're not speaking English. Well, proper English, my English, that is." The Doctor's eyebrows raised. "The Byron you said that the TARDIS translation circuit was damaged when he got here," Rose trailed off.

"Pure! Dinna fash yerself." He closed his eyes and rolled his head around his neck. "Hello."

"Hello," Rose smiled and let the gold light buzz in her lobby. "So you don't always speak just in English when we're on Earth."

"Ah no, big Time Lord head like mine, there are some concepts that can only be perceived in future, past, alive, dead languages.   
I'm speaking it now. How am I doing?"

"Didn't mind the Scottish brogue. Didn't mind the Northern either. Judoon on the Moon was pretty funny." She held in a snicker as their fish n' chips arrived. The Doctor moved the chip side towards her. "What are we doing?" She broke a chip in half and had a sword fight with herself.

"Fish n' chips. Like old times. Save the complicated bits for later." He poured too much malt vinegar over the plate.

"Something big happened..." Rose's left hand won the day and she popped the chip in her mouth. The Doctor's Adam's apple bobbed and he shook his head with a sigh.

"A lot of somethings, to be precise. I think I'm starting to know why." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oi, don't do that you're gonna smell all night. What are we doing killing the Slitheen?"

"Always prepared, that's me," he said, dryly. He looked down at the empty plates, and glasses of beer that were just foam. 

"Ready for our next stop?"

"Which is?" She asked calmly.

"Well, do you trust me?" She nodded and grabbed his hand.  
\--

The car ride consisted of the Doctor uncomfortably shifting, as the car whizzed down the streets. Rose felt accomplished when she got the Doctor to call her "lassy," 

Her eyebrows rose as her trainers made a squeaky noise against the posh marble of the lobby. The hotel employee smiled at the two as they approached the registration desk. The pens weren't even bolted down. "How may I help you today?"

"Ah yes, I'm Doctor John Smith and this is my guest." The receptionist's smiled pleasantly and started typing.

"Lucky you two, got the last room for the night. It's on the azure floor."

"What they're color coded?" Rose asked.

"They have to keep track of em' somehow," The Doctor shrugged. "I got names for most of the rooms in the TARDIS." The pair walked in silence, and finally got to the room.

"Soooo," Rose walked around appraising the room. It was posh, very posh. It was more of a small apartment than the usual hotel rooms she was used to staying at. "There's one bed," she yipped from the other room. The Doctor was playing around with his screwdriver.

"Is that a problem? We've shared before," he said softly.

"It's fine. I just don't understand why we are here?" 

The Doctor smiled. 

"If you say wibbley-wobbley, timey-wimey, I'm gonna... I don't know."

"What are you going to do Rose Tyler? Did he give you the spark notes yet?"

"We're not some crazy Time Lord married are we? My mum is going to..." she was cut off.

"How is getting fish n' chips married... Well, in some cultures it is. I've been married. It's just a label. The intent behind the vows and promises is what matters."

"But Doctor," she said softly and leaned into him. "You lie." His steady breath stopped.

"W'what do you mean?"

"You leave us or we leave you. I will die or fade away or...There is no forever."

"We don't know that. I've learned never to underestimate you Rose Tyler. I made that mistake again. Remember in the car? Well, you probably don't, all that stuff floating in your head. You explained why I am here." He grinned. She raised a brow. "Bad Wolf. To make a complicated story short we fixed the moment it all went wrong." 

His eyes were dark.

"The Time War," she asked looking into his ghostly eyes. 

He nodded. "To make something really short. All 12 of my incarnations froze Gallifrey in a single moment of time. The Time War is done. They're all alive, I think. Somewhere out there. But you or a form of you helped. Now I'm here. I wanted a new destination."

"You picked here?"

"Maybe, already changed one major event for the cosmos. Why not another?"

"We could go Belgium."

"Or it could work out alright. Safe as houses, we'll be. I chose love over the Universe once, or twice. One time I was so angry because she followed me to death and that meant I failed. As long as she was alive and safe my life didn't matter, nor did the Universe. You came a long and I thought you were safe and happy and that would be enough. You were kinda with me in a fashion. A more human way." She started to speak. "No. No, I should've given you a choice. Time Lord, I always think I know best. It's not you, or the Universe, or I. It's all three together. Safe and sound together."

She leaned into his shoulder and sighed, "Together."

\----  
Her golden hair spread out across his shoulder and tickled his ear. Her weight sunk into his side, and The Doctor could feel his hearts starting to beat faster.

"Blimey, I can feel a good samba through your chest," she said and looked up at him with a smile.

"Well, uh, well." His Adam's apple started to bobble in his throat again.

"Was Queen Bess that much of a..." He stopped her by holding up his hand.

"She could've been a Zygon and do you kiss and tell? I don't make fun of your ex-ex..." Rose raised her hand and entwined her fingers in his.

"Oh, Rickey the idiot? All my pretty boys?"

"I'm pretty, foxy, or sexy, whatever you call it." He winked.

"I know! How about' when you were stone, and we..." Rose looked down.

"We?" The Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"You don't remember? I thought it was quite smashing." Rose smiled. She let his blueishy line entwine with hers and she focused on a memory.

They were in ancient Rome, his once marble arms had returned to their now too pinkish hue from the sun. His freckles stood out on his arms against the white toga he sported. She thought he said hello or something but all she could do was grin like an idiot. She blinked and their lips met in a quick life reaffirming kiss. It was over before it had begun.

"My mind was rocks then," he said with a cringe, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You do remember!" Rose said accusingly with a great poked to his chest.

"Oi, I remember a lot of things. This big ole' Time Lord head of mine is full of stuff."

"No, you were right the first time. Full of rocks, it is." Rose narrowed her hazel eyes.

"Shhh... wait. For a tick. You said when you held my hand you saw the Universe turn. When I hold you, everything slows down. When we hold hands and run… It's calm. There was no Time War, or death, and destruction. Just you. This body was regenerated for you. I just thought, 'what she would like.' It's a tricky process. Turned out all right. But," he trailed off.

"But?"

"You didn't recognize me at first. I thought you would. I mean, Rose Tyler... I learned your name. When you think of me. Do you see something?"

"I don't know," she said, worrying her lip.

"We've gone through the word thing. Words have power. I chose the Doctor because that's what I do. My name gives a person power. One wrong word can change a whole causal nexus. They say the right word and they could destroy the Universe." His fingers lightly touched her temples. The blueishy line pulsated and they were in her lobby. He was sitting in the jumper seat his converse crisscrossed on the console. "ROSE." The Doctor's slim frame was surrounded by a golden aura that danced gracefully around him. She sneezed and the light was gone. "Ok, your turn now."

"What do I do?" She joined him on the jumper seat.

"Oh, you'll figure it out. Brilliant, you are." He grinned.

He held out his hands and let a blueishy line appear. "What do you see?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Rose lifted a shaky hand and touched the line. "It's warm. Kinda' like basking in the sun." The line started to shake and swirl to form a bunch of circles she recognized from a post-it. "Those! Those were the coordinates you gave me."

"Yup," he replied, with an extra pop to the p. His tongue lingered a little on the syllable.

"I don't think I can pronounce that."

"Well, that's not really how it works."

"So, does it do anything?" Rose waved her hand around the rotating script. He shrugged. "We're not married or anything are we" she asked, cheekily.

"You with the marriage thing. Rassilon. It's more of the courting process. Very archaic, mind you. This sort of emotional tie and carnality was bred out of us years ago. The thought of even initiating this process with a 21st century human is astounding to me."

"Oi," Rose exclaimed with another poke.

"No, no, no. You are brilliant. You have part of the time vortex running in the background of your head and I haven't been able to find it yet. You or Bad Wolf rewrote a time-locked point in history. The Time War. But now we have to fix the realities and save me."

Rose looked up and swirled her hands around the script. The Doctor's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he shuddered slightly. Rose cocked her head in amusement and grinned at him. "So far that sound has been the same in all the bodies," she whispered.

"Now who is being rude?" The Doctor questioned.

"I had to explain to my mum that all your bits weren't alien," she retorted. The Time Lord's jaw clenched.

"D'do you need a closer examination, Ms. Tyler?"

"Um. What? That was the cheesiest line I 'think I've ever heard." She laughed and ruffled his hair. "I've also seen it all," she added, darkly.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes.

"Who do you think got you into those jim-jams? My mum? I'm not complaining." She surrendered with her arms out. "Why are we here?”

He was silent and just seemed to stare through her.

"I'is this goodbye?" she whispered.

"No. It's more like a hello." He took her in his arms. "Off we go, back to reality." With a blink Rose was back on the sofa in the hotel room. Her muscles cried stiff complaints as she flexed and stretched. "My TARDIS has been converted to a sort of paradox machine. It's holding the realities together and now I know what needs to be done to fix it. I got sucked in here and since my time-line has ended I am a walking paradox. It's hard to stay grounded. I'll deal with that. Your job is to make Donna turn left. After that, we alter a few events. Voila! Together. Oh, I don't like that one. Love, allons-y. Did I tell you I met someone named Alonso?"

"So?"

"Tomorrow you will reconnect with my past Northern self and you will have to hop around til' you find the right moment."

"How do I convince her?"

"You've already done it. You can do it again." He smiled.

"I don't think I can yell as loud as her."

"No one in the Universe can," the Doctor mused. They laughed in unison. "Oh, I missed this," he said quietly.

"What's the plan now?" she asked, cheerfully.

"That is completely up to you. Ladies' choice if it were. I am grounded for the night, so I can't offer you all of time and space. But, we have a room and a tele. We've been worse places."

"Hello." She smiled, hazel eyes shining.

"Hello," he said in a gravely tone, "Rose Tyler."

Rose grabbed the blueishy line that was pulsating in the back of her mind and formed the symbols. She caressed the alien script as it rotated around her mind's eye. She let her gold line encircle it and dance in the rotation. The edge of her mouth quirked as the Doctor leaned against the arm of the couch.

"How'how are you doing that?"

"Quick study, me. Big ole' human brain. You should know. You've gone running around in there." She put extra pressure on the symbols and the Time Lord melted further into the couch.

She leaned in close so her breath was brushing his sideburns. "I love you." She pulled her fingers through his hair. His eyes were closed but the blueishy symbols morphed into different script. He was speaking words she only heard him murmur in his sleep. She saw blazing orange skies and the citadel. Everything was flashing so fast she couldn't get a grasp on it. Faces she knew and some strangers. So many places and times.

The tides were turning. The blueishy line was starting to slowly dance around her thread and she felt a pleasant burn.  
She wasn't sure how, but she blinked and she was the one melting into the couch. Those too desperate hands were exploring the back of her hoodie and unzipping it. She shimmied out of the cloth with a smirk. "Can't ruin all my clothes," she said with a laugh.

"What if that was the plan?" He started to lean in close and stopped when Rose started to chuckle. "What?"

"I don't know what you mean?" Rose smiled pulled him forward by the tie.

"Time Lord," he said, dryly.

"Human, a Human who is getting bored." She tugged harder.

"You chuckled at me." He pouted. "Heard you in here too," he said with a tap to the temple.

"Well," Rose replied in her best imitation of the Time Lord. "Clearly, I have been a quick study. For a person who says words mean so little and so much… You do say a lot of cheesy lines and non-sense in between the important bits." She looked towards him with lowered hazel eyes and slowly reached for his temple. "Archaic Time Lord courting rituals being as such… you don't talk like normal blocks. You try but it just doesn't feel right." She ignored his protest and closed her eyes. "Just keep a few doors open."

He relaxed his tense muscles and opened his door as he felt her gentle knocking. Rose opened her eyes and frowned a bit. "Ok, I can work with this," she said, quietly and held out her hand. The Doctor appeared moments later and squeezed it tightly.

"This is your first trip in here just trying to keep it simple. Time Lords' brains are nothing but complicated. "He kissed the top of her head.

"You think you are still such a big deal," Rose replied, as she started to move forward.

"Don't you agree?" he asked in the squeaky voice.

"Right, we need to sit down somehow." The Doctor put down his coat and a patch of grass materialized.

"Apple-grass." He raised an eyebrow as Rose came closer.

"Isn't psychic -contact 'more' to Time Lords?" Rose asked.

The Doctor nodded and caressed her back as she said on his lap. She lightly head-butted him and he was surrounded by clothes, TARDIS (s), naked bits, and various scenes from the Karma Sutra. "That's what I want. We're only scratching the surface. Didn't think that sort'of stuff mattered to you… Does it?"

The Doctor cocked his head and smiled softly. He snapped his fingers, and they were both on the couch with Rose straddling him. "Where were we?" he asked, innocently. Rose retrieved his tie and pulled their lips together.

Their lips met tentatively at first. The Doctor bit her bottom lip just enough to have Rose let out a tiny yelp. With her mouth open, he went in for some exploration. The human did put up some resistance to guard its territory. Rose started to use that swirly technique, her tongue danced around his. It quickly retreated when he tried to reciprocate. Her hands were grasping his hair and directing where his head should go.

Then there was friction. That lovely marvelous, scorching friction that was making everything slowly burn. Rose ground into his lap and smiled as she felt how hard he was. She started up a rhythm that made the Doctor silent as she matches kisses. She shuddered a bit as it the two connected at the right spot. "This is clothing optional, as you said… or someone did," she whispered, and she started to pop off the bottoms of his oxford.

Somehow Rose's t-shirt went over her head without the pair breaking physical contact. (The tear down the back might've been the solution.) The Doctor smiled when he saw Rose was wearing a pink push-up bra with just enough lace to leave certain anatomy to the imagination. "The knickers match too," she said with a wink.

"Well, that clearly needs further inspection. You know you have your life together when your tops match your bottoms." He moved on to her jeans. "Well with that done. I think we need to go see that bed?" Rose nodded.

She blinked three times:  
In the Doctor's arms  
Falling into the fluffy mattress  
The Time Lord was on top of her sans clothing.

His hands were toying with the lace above and around each breast. He tried to make his fingers sneak under, but Rose rolled over and he popped the clasp. He started to kiss a trail down her back, while his hands playfully squeezed and rolled her nipples. Smooth hand danced caresses to the elastic of the pink lace at her hip. Rose arched her hips and helped tug them down her legs.

"No mum or dad coming up the driveway?" She smirked.

"You were the one that protested," the Doctor countered. His hands gave feather light touches to her legs that made Rose shiver. She took her hands and carefully touched the Doctor's growing member. He hissed through his teeth and his fingers found her clit. He moistened his fingers and started to rub, caress, and pinch a rhythm that Rose could barely keep up with. His other hand found the way to her opening. He circled it carelessly and Rose grabbed harder and started to tug a fast rhythm.

He murmured something and started to stroke her quickly and hard. Her hands couldn't keep up with his chaotic rhythm.  
As she felt the burn turn into a neutron-star explosion, she held down his hips and slowly eased him in. The Doctor's eyes went dark. She looked down at him and gave a slow thrust forward with her hips. She rose up slowly inch by inch and ignored the Doctor's hands trying to bring her down. She became free and quickly came down again. They both made groans of approval.

She squeezed inwardly and started a rhythm of her own. The Doctor's hips easily came up to meet her. The pair started to go, deeper, harder, rougher adding to the friction of their bodies. When Rose's body started to clench and shake the Doctor tried to go deeper. Her nails cause tiny lines on his forearms and he smiled at the ragged breath.  
He gently grabbed her by the hips and flipped her to her back as she was trying to catch her breath. He started with low hard thrust that had Rose cursing. She got her feet to rest on his shoulders and both sighed as he found a deeper spot.  
The Time Lord raised her hips and started to go fast; he went very, very fast. In the back of her mind she knew the Respiratory by-pass had kicked in. She could feel the heat of them joining and the thrust were getting more desperate. She felt a clenching in her stomach and saw stars again. She was still riding the waves of her own climax as she felt the Doctor start to pump his own warm release. When he hung his head and stated to breathe again she disentangled her legs from his shoulder. He quietly laid his head on her collar bone.

Rose put a tentative hand in his hair and started to swirl it around. He silently started to let his hand run soft circles and lines around her bare skin. 

"Rose Tyler, I can't believe you did not let me experience that sort of thing sooner," the Doctor murmured.

"You've never?"

"Well, yes. Stuff happens. Never quite like that," he mused. Rose stopped playing with his hair. "I mean, not… not."

"Shh," Rose rolled him over and tried to kiss him on the lips. Somehow, it escalated into them tangled around each other snogging like horny teenagers.  
_--


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for a change in the guard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Yes this is the way I wanted to tell an old fic. All mistakes from here on are my own.   
> Thank you.

Change in Tempo   
By Kimmzie  
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

Rose was peacefully snoring and drooling on the Doctor's chest. He was enjoying the peace and quiet of the twilight. Her golden presence purred in the back of his mind. He could feel time nipping at his heels.

It was reaching for him, trying to cauterize the wound. The Time Lord gritted his teeth together and heard the hum of his TARDIS. The golden light flashed stronger. He felt like he was sinking... Small golden threads clung to him and kept him grounded within the time line. 

“I believe that means it’s about time you go,” his Eighth- self said from the door. “Even I felt that one.”

Rose let out a loud snore and the Tenth Doctor gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Yeah, I really don’t want a repeat of that. Time is unraveling faster here.”

"Yes, this place just seems wrong. Are you ready to go?" The Doctor’s younger-self asked.

"Don't really have a choice now, do I?" He grounded out the reply through clenched teeth. 

His counterpart shook his head grimly. "Aren't you going to say good-bye to her?" 

"It's not really goodbye… More like a hello," The Tenth Doctor started to slowly disentangle himself from the human. The other Time Lord left the room wordlessly to give them what limited privacy was available.

The Tenth Doctor joined his past self on the couch a few moments later. He was very quiet. Which was fairly unsettling... 

"She knows our name now," the Eighth Doctor began wistfully as he looked towards the bedroom.

"She's known it for a while," his older-self replied. The Time Lord tried to preoccupy himself by controlling a bad case of bedhead. 

The Eighth Doctor smiled at his semi-in control shortened curls. It wasn’t long before, the Tenth Doctor clutched his sides and let out another groan. 

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go, before you disappear!" His younger-self pushed the Doctor off the couch. "Keep reality from ripping and we'll do the rest." 

The Time Lord put on his brown trench coat. He looked like he was caught in the static between tele channels. He slowly went to the TARDIS, the chucks dragging on the wooden floor. He gave his younger self a dark stare and nodded goodbye. 

The TARDIS gave a wheeze and was gone in a strange flash.

Rose hung around in the bedroom doorway a hoodie carelessly zipped around her. 

"W'hat? He's gone." She looked around the room and saw the Eighth Doctor sitting calmly on the sofa.

"Change of the guard, well, of sorts. Our timeline has been pushed up a bit. This Universe is not compensating around him well. So yes, he's gone and we have to get going too," the Eighth Doctor said, gently.

Rose bit her quivering lip and disappeared into the room. She returned wearing wrinkled jeans and the hoodie, she held a rumpled t-shirt in her hands. "Nah, I'll just leave it. The seam is all gone. Can't let you gents anywhere near my clothes," she said with a sad smile.

"He's fine,” the Doctor said, softly. "How about we get this plan in motion and put all the flames out before the Universe is incinerated." He stroked her hair.

"Got a big enough fire extinguisher?" she asked, as she moved towards the door.

"I got the keys to the car. That's a start," he replied and jingled the keys.

After the ride back to her parent's manor, there were five streaks indented into the vinyl of the car door. Rose collapsed out of the passenger side and almost kissed the gravel. "You drive a time machine," she said through heavy breaths.

"Are you always that much of a back-seat driver?" he answered, as he offered her a hand up. He closed his eyes. "It's about six o'clock in the morning. I'll meet you in the TARDIS." The Doctor rubbed the back of her hand and headed towards his TARDIS.

"S'soo it's my goodbye, then?" Rose murmured to herself. She balled up her hands and stealthily went into the house. 

Her Mum squeezed her so hard that she was sure a few ribs broke. Pete squeezed her so hard that rest of her rib cage shattered. Tony smiled and tried to fit his small arms round her neck and that broke her heart.

She wiped away her tears and gave them a few envelopes to hand out and read later.

One foot after the other, she tried to steady her heart which was crashing through the shards of what remained in her chest. Her breath coated the morning air with soft white puffs. The TARDIS door opened for her before she could get the key.

"Well now, here we are," The Doctor smiled as he took the great big red pack from her shoulder. "Are you ready to go back home?" The Doctor asked quirking a brow.

"I thought I already was." She challenged with a laugh. 

The Doctor set the pack down and took Rose into his arms. "You changed back into the greenish Jane Austen jacket." Rose stroked the sleeves.

"Old habits die hard, I'm getting old," he said with a sigh.

Rose pouted. "My Mum used to call you a cradle robber. She tried to seduce you the first time she met you." The Doctor stiffened.

"Do you really want all those synapses to cross, Ms. Tyler?" he asked, his eyes looking into the distance.

"Let me try this," she said, as her tongue poked out the side of her smile.

The Doctor felt her gold presence outside his shields. He softened them to be akin to a screen door. Then he saw it, his name. The golden script rotated and wafted in through the holes as if on a breeze.

He held her tighter.

"Well that's not fair, I don't know yours yet," he said with a laugh. Rose let down her shields and let the blueishy line vibrate happily against the symbols. "Unfortunately, learning that now would be cheating." He shook his head. Rose came in closer and molded herself in his arms. She made the symbols dance in her mind filling them with all the desire and love she had been carrying around for years.

"Is that cheating?"

She winked.

The Doctor's eyes were dilated; Rose could see her wolfish grin smiling back at her in his pupils. He gritted his teeth and stroked her arm. "We can't escape the collapse, even in here. We have to get going. I will take you up on that offer though, later." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He gently guided her to the TARDIS console.

"The desktop looks more familiar." She gave it a nudge.

"Yes, I need your help. So I thought something more familiar would help." He pointed to the pump. "You get that and the six buttons around it," he said with a crooked grin. "Ever onwards?" he asked.

"Allons-y!" Rose smiled and started hitting the button in the middle.

"Exactly! C'mon Old Girl, get us out of here," The Doctor started to dance around the console pressing certain buttons. "Now Rose, go in your lobby and scream that symbol. It's going to get rocky, but we have to get pulled through."

Rose hit the button to the far left once more and receded into her lobby. She caressed the console and thought the Doctor's name. The coordinates came out as a bunch of syllables her tongue easily said. Her throat was hoarse after she pronounced it.  
"Ah, there you are! Took you long enough. Do you know how boring Cardiff is?" She heard the Northern voice of the Ninth Doctor booming around her. "Just wait a moment and you'll be back." 

Rose opened her eyes and the Eighth Doctor was steadying her against the real console of the TARDIS.

"We're breaking through the void now. It shouldn't be long," he said. He kept a firm grip onto the console due to the turbulence. He even pushed the last few buttons with the toe of his boot. 

Rose could almost feel the hesitant rotation of the ship as it flew her home. With one climatic crash the lights in the TARDIS went off and flickered on. Both passengers lifted themselves from the floor.

"Did we make it?" Rose tried to pull her hair from her face. She reluctantly pushed herself off the velvet cushion that was the Doctor. 

"It doesn't feel as odd as Pete's World." The Doctor shrugged. "You could go out and look? Everything seems to be alright according to the sensors. I can sense the Leather one's presence."

"You're not coming?" Rose reached for his hand.

"I'll be out in a tick." He grinned. "We all have many miles to go before we sleep." The sonic was in his hand and he disappeared under the console.

Rose's broken heart was trying to escape her chest again as the door to the TARDIS opened. 

He was leaning against his TARDIS, arms crossed. The Doctor stood there just as she remembered him- all lean muscle and leather. She stopped a few meters away from him. She felt as if she were grounded in place. 

He moved his head appraising her. "Well, come say hello." 

He easily closed the distance and embraced her in a leather clad hug. She smiled into the aroma of the old jacket and tried to hold on to him tighter. He was real. He was solid, and his arms were gripping her tightly. She thought she could feel him inhaling her scent through her hair. She couldn't help but smile.

"What? You look like you've seen a ghost. Wait, don't answer that." He looked down at her with steely blue eyes.

"You're here. You're really here. I'm home," Rose said, slowly. She jumped up and down. "There are not Zeppelins in the air, or that bloody President Harriet Jones, and it smells better, a lot better. You know that great clean smell after a good downpour? I'm home," she shouted, grabbing ahold of the Doctor's arms.

"That's what we're going to work on." He smiled ear to ear. "You're, you're going to travel with me for a bit, so we can try and straighten the timelines. Lord Byron has to go off and deal with parts of the Time War. He has to find the Moment," he said, gravely. "Remember don't touch the baby? We don't want too many of ourselves running around, especially with time being so delicate."

Rose looked towards the TARDIS she just left.

"You should say good-bye." The Ninth Doctor coughed. "I know I'd appreciate it. I’m not going anywhere. I promise."

She slowly turned around and went back into the police box. The wood paneling and book cases were restored. The Eighth Doctor had a bunch of wires in his mouth and was using the sonic.

"Can you electrocute yourself doing that?" Rose tried to take some of the load from his hands.

"Time Lord, I'm already insulated, or some sort of nonsense," he said, dismissively. "I've got another trip to make.”

The wires were forgotten and he approached Rose with soft footsteps. "I was trying to find hope or something. A simple reason to keep going, fighting, or running. I know what I have to do now," he said, softly. 

He took her into his arms and held her like a lifeline. "I will go learn that name of yours, and deal with this Time War mess. If you need me, think of the coordinates and I'll come as soon as possible." 

The blueishy line was a blazing presence in her lobby. She felt as if her retinas was blinded behind her shut lids.   
It burnt, but she didn't care. 

His lips were on hers and they were moving. It felt as if it were a part of the light. She molded into him and it grew hotter, she almost felt as if her blood was boiling. His hands were grasping her desperately, his fingers were meticulously memorizing everything.

He started to back away as Rose tried to get closer. He gave her a sad smile against her lips and pointed his finger in the air. His fingers timed out the ringing of the Cloister bell. 

"Time to go, Rose Tyler." He stroked her cheek lightly. "Many, many, many, miles to go, love."

"I hope they're fast… don't meet anymore girls in an alley," she said and put a peck on his nose. "Thank you, for saving me."

"I believe the sentiment is returned." He encased her in velvet. The Byronic hero was marching off to war again. "Rose Tyler, until we me again." He kissed her softly on the lips and went toward the console.

"Goodbye My Doctor." She squeezed his hand and left the TARDIS.

"I knew your smile could reach your eyes," he whispered as the TARDIS door closed. 

"Hmm. Well Old Girl, time to find the Moment and Bad Wolf. Next stop, Pete's World," The Doctor shrugged off the tattered jacket and put it on his new favorite armchair.  
\--  
Rose wiped her eyes as she heard the wheeze and groan of the other TARDIS. She tried to hide the black streaks that were left on the heels of her hands.

"What did I say before, no tears." The Ninth Doctor took her hand and rubbed away the mascara. "How long has it been for you?"

"W'what do you mean?" she asked hesitantly. He just gave her that look. He was mentally rolling his eyes about something. "If you start rolling your eyes at me, I'm going to find another one of ya." Rose poked his chest. 

He stepped back a tad and shot her a hurt frown. He couldn’t help smile through the ‘mock hurt’ look.

“How long?" he repeated in a soft whisper. "You clearly stayed through my regeneration, but how long?"

"It's been a few years. We were separated for a few more. It's been too long. When you changed I tried to get you back," she said with a smile and shrug. "But it's better with two. How are we going to do this? We know the time she has to turn left. Can we do it?"

The Doctor sighed. "I haven't just been in Cardiff eating chips and running from this new Torchwood organization. I found her and," he stopped and made a little cringe.

"What?" Rose looked concerned.

"No, no, no it was nothing bad or Universe shattering." He shook his head and waved his arms.

"Did she buy you a drink or yell at you first?" Rose grinned and playfully poked him in the side. The Doctor shifted uncomfortably.

"I think both. I found her at a pub and there was a commotion. We went outside, but I saw a flash of light and you. You were probably using that dimension cannon of yours. I left before I made this anymore convoluted." He shook his head.

"That was one of the first times I found her," Rose said with a nod. "Oh, all this time travel, parallel Universes, and different regenerations are enough to make a girl’s head spin."

"Tell me about it… and I'm a Time Lord." He was quiet for a few moments. He suddenly lit up like he remembered something of upmost importance. "Don't you have part of the Time Vortex in your head? I was warned about that." The Doctor added cautiously with a raised brow.

"I guess so. I don't really understand it all. The Pinstriped you said that there was a piece of it left in my head. "

"Yes, and something changed within the Time War because Bad Wolf became the consciousness of the Moment. Now here we are, changing history and several set points in time," he said, darkly.

“What you don’t want to?”

"Should be a bit of fun!" His expression flipped like a light switch. He took her hand and led her into the TARDIS.

"When are we?" Rose looked around. "Definitely Cardiff, can we get some chips or will the Universe fall apart? You dragged me outta bed and I haven't eaten since before," she trailed off.

"Before?" he questioned.

"Nah, forget it. Do you have any money?" She playfully reached for his pockets. "Mine is no longer government issued." She smiled.

"Yes Rose Tyler, for once I have money. I contacted UNIT and drained my account. I opened communication so we can easily retrieve the other TARDIS from under the Thames when we get to it." He offered her an arm as she raised a brow.

"You always think you're so impressive."

"I'm fantastic, and let me buy you a drink before the world burns."

"Saw that. It was our first pre-date. You flirted with a Tree. I tried to chat mine up, but he was a bit of a twat, or twig. Just had a wooden personality." The Doctor just looked at her and pulled her along as he started walking down the street.

The chip shop was lit with florescent lighting and had a theme of the color red. Rose ate the chips with less toxic amounts of vinegar. They talked about inane things and got back into their usual banter. She could tell there was extra tension in his jaw. She felt his gaze burning into her every time she turned her head.

"What?" she finally asked. "It's not polite to stare, even if that was never your strongest trait."

"I'm not really thinking about much, just planning our next step and all that nonsense. I'm not sure how much we should interfere or just let things happen. The time-line is just going to bend and twist the longer we go down this path. We'll save the world but I'm not going to lose you," he said, quietly.

"You said I could do it. I've done it before. The plan is to just go along Donna's time-line, right? At least I won't be ripping holes in the Universe."

"From what Pinstripes told me, it might get bad. We're just going to be stuck on the sidelines," he said in a huff. Rose rested her hands on her chin.

"Not really used to that," she replied. 

Suddenly, the Doctor perked up and started to look around. 

"What?"

"Don't panic. We have to go and go now," he said calmly. "Just get up and start walking with me." 

She grabbed his hand as he started to shield her from public view. All she could see was black fabric. 

"Wait, Doctor what is that?" He grabbed her arm and tried to keep their momentum. She caught a quick glance of an all too familiar brown coat. “We never came here." 

He nodded.

"You don't want to talk to him. He's not 'your' Doctor. Think of it as a shadow. Keep walking. He already knows, I am here." The Time Lord sighed as he saw the spikey hair figure approach him. "Rose, if you want any hope of fixing this. Go. Go to the TARDIS. Now," he said under his breath blocking her from view. 

She ran.

"You're not supposed to be here," The Tenth Doctor looked at his previous incarnation.

"Took a detour," he replied putting steel into his Northern accent.

"Where's Rose?" The Doctor in pinstripes asked innocently.

"Visiting her Mum, we're off to Woman Wept soon."

"Yes, quite right. I guess you should be off." He looked at him with ghostly eyes. This incarnation that was destined to drown because he didn't have someone to say, ‘Stop.’

The Ninth Doctor quickly gave him a nod and started off to the TARDIS. He didn't look back and kept his stride even. That future was a dead end. He had no desire to visit it either. 

The Time Lord’s face was stuck in a grimace when he opened the TARDIS door. He turned his head when he heard music playing. Rose was swaying against a strut humming to herself. The girl's face lit up when the Doctor came up to her.

"Well, now I'm convinced," he said, swaying his hips with hers. Rose emerged from the strut and grabbed his hands.

"Of?" She went in for a spin and lost the beat a little.

"One, two, three, four, it's just a foxtrot." The Doctor smiled. "I am convinced that fixing time is the right thing. I've seen two versions of myself without you and I'm not a fan."

Rose stayed silent and started to pick up the pace as the tempo increased. She followed the Doctor into a grape-vine step. "It's you, me and the Universe," she said, as she executed a perfect spin.   
\---  
The Doctor looked around the console room as he flipped and twisted various nobs. A purple light showing Donna Noble's timeline buzzing on the screen. There was a pit in the bottom of his stomach and he had to choke down bile as he made the TARDIS go forward. He wasn't supposed to be here. 

He was wrong.

"What do you mean wrong?" Rose asked from the doorway. "You said that to me in Pete's World, that I was wrong."

"How did you hear that?" He continued to play with a certain dial. The Time Lord grinned as the TARDIS synced up with the timeline. "I didn't say anything, Rose." He looked up from the screen.

"Yes you did," she replied, dryly. "The great Time Lord is ‘wrong.’" 

She could've been on the Shakespearean stage the way she said it. The Doctor mused about a quick side trip. He was quiet and turned his back to Rose. He thought gently in his head, 'Rose Tyler. Run.' He turned back to face Rose who was in the jump seat, her legs dangling playfully.

"Did you hear that?" he asked.

"Rose Tyler, Run. Don't know where we are running to," she said, quietly.

"We're always running, but that is not the point. I never said that vocally. I thought it. You were in my head." He leaned against the console.

"Ha, it doesn’t feel much different to be honest. Since you’ve gotten in my head I think you made a little spot, campfire and everything." She laughed.

"Should I try some cheesy pick up line like, Rose Tyler, you’ve been running through my mind all day?”  
“Ha. Maybe just buy me a drink first.”

“Hmm. Who’s turn is it for that now? Anyway, you’re just hearing a bit that goes on in my head… Nothing to be too worried about considering. You know my name and have been in my head… and I may know your name, Rose Tyler." The jump seat buckled a little as he sat down next to her.

"What does that mean?" Rose looked up to meet his gaze. They sat in an amicable silence for a while. 

"We'll just have to wait and see. That's half the fun."

The Time Lord narrowed his eyes as Rose frowned. 

"How many places will we have to go?" She raised her head so it could rest on his shoulder.

"I don't know. I don’t think too many," he replied with a sigh. The Doctor was hesitant to get up as the time rotor stopped and the screen in the middle of the console marked their arrival. "And we're around London again, something is about to happen."  
Rose poked her head out and saw a car park that was vaguely familiar. She saw a blue car that was ingrained into her mind. 

"That's Donna's car. Who's going to make contact with Donna?" Rose closed the door to the TARDIS. "What's going to happen?" she asked straining for the words.

"I don't know," the Doctor said with a shrug. "It is a tangle skein we weave, Rose Tyler." He leaned against the console. "She's already talked," the Doctor stopped and cleared his throat, "screamed, hit on, and tried to snog me in an alley. I got larger spilt on my good jumper."

Rose hid a laugh. "Why don't we both go, you could use your Time Lord wiles on her or something. I could be your assistant." Rose shrugged.

"You want me talking to her again?" the Doctor asked looking confused.

"That's how we apes communicate. We can't all be telepathic… with big ole' Time Lord Brains," she paused, as he approached her. 

The blueishy line was knocking at her mental barriers and she let it in. A sudden rush of worry and queasiness settled over her. The Doctor came to stand behind her. His boots made harsh sounds as they crossed the grating. Familiar arms encompassed her and squeezed her tightly from behind. She felt a light pressure turn her around. Her stomach was sinking, deeper, and deeper. She met his eyes.

"What if we don't step out that door?" he asked softly.

"Don't get cold feet on me now. This is your plan, Mister. I don't mind you being flirtatious if it saves the Universe. Just save the last dance for me." 

She gave him a wink and let her golden thread brush against his. He gave her hand a squeeze and nodded as he opened the door.

“Are you sure? We may be able to out run even this. Go somewhere new, exciting…”

“Noope. Got to stick to the intended path. That’s what you would say. Actually you did say that.”

"Off we go then." His smile was already plastered on his face. 

Rose felt dizzy as they walked through the car park. Her thoughts were racing a million-km as minute. It felt like an off-beat hum. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples with a bit of a stumble in her step.

"Is that you?" she questioned. 

“What do you mean?"

“I don’t know. It’s like there is a fast buzzing in my head." She shifted uncomfortably. The Doctor steadied her wobble on the pavement.

The Time Lord nodded and closed his eyes. She felt a barrier between them. 

"Too many thoughts, you're not used to that much noise in your head. I'm trying to track the timelines to see how this is supposed to progress and what to do. Everything that is was, could be, and may be. There will be no Reapers today." He brought a cautious hand to her cheek. "Ready?" he asked.

Rose nodded and they continued to the office door. She opened it slowly and immediately wanted to close it. Donna, the red headed woman, was holding a box and yelling.

The Doctor slid past Rose and entered the office slowly. "Excuse me, hello." He waved. "Sorry to interrupt but I was looking for a pricing on some printing."

"It's you, the man from the pub on Christmas," Donna said. Then, she threw a plastic cactus at a co-worker.   
The volume of the TV in the back was heightened as the words 'urgent news' flashed across the bottom. Donna continued her warpath rampage, unaware.

"Rhinos? Oh my God, did they just say Martha Jones. That sounds important," Rose said grasping the Time Lord's sleeve.

"The Judoon, they were probably looking for a fugitive but have no authority on Earth. The moon isn't the Earth’s property."

"All those people suffocated," Rose whispered.

"We're here," The Doctor replied in exasperation. "We're sidelined."

The office workers were dealing with the news and The Oncoming Donna. She was waving about giving her last swan song and burning every bridge to ash.

"Oi Donna, don't forget your raffle ticket!" A co-worker nudge Donna as she started to go towards the door.

She turned to the Doctor who turned his eyes to her calmly. “Donna Noble. I’m sorry to see you again under such… well.”  
"You owe me a larger. You also left me in the streets. Who leaves someone in the streets like that? And who is she?"   
She looked behind him to Rose who was fixated on her back. "Why is she looking behind me? Is there something on my back? People keep doing that. Who is she?" Donna asked pointedly.

"I'm no one, really, just his assistant." Rose looked to the floor. The Doctor shot her a quick pained looked. "Mr. Smith," she said with a cough.

"Ah yes, silly me. Well, there seems to be enough happening right now. I'll get a quote another day. Ms. Noble, maybe we can get a drink sometime? I do owe you one," he said with a smile and started to turn out the door.

Rose looked at a simple wrinkled up lotto ticket on a desk near her. She saw a purple line pulsate in her mind.  
'Take it,' she heard a familiar voice whisper. She grabbed it cautiously and put it in Donna's abandoned box. With a nod she followed the Doctor out of the office. They were both silent until they made it to the TARDIS.

The Doctor placed a hand against the wall and bowed his head. "Guess not everyone lives, eh?" he whispered.

"We… you can't save everyone. You are the one that said it'll work out alright," she replied, approaching slowly.

"Hmph," the Doctor sighed back. "Did she take the lotto ticket?" he asked.  
"Yup, put it in her box." Rose replied with a pop. "Mission accomplished," she continued with a smile. She took his free hand and swung it in her own. His other hand found her hip.

"She wasn't ready," he said, darkly. "We're going to have to watch this world burn."

"Well, we'll just have to wait. Not our best strong point." Rose leaned against him and felt the slow rise and fall of his chest. 

"You've always said time can be rewritten."

"I'm just scared if we keep twisting and stretching time it'll just stop."

"Since when have you ever gotten this cautious?"

"I can't guarantee that I can send you home." 

He hung his head.

"You have to buy me a drink first," she said with a smirk. "I think a few hyper-vodkas are on the menu. Didn’t Jack have an ‘emergency stashes somewhere?" His eyes were closed like he was looking for something. “Time Lord with a terrible memory, Jack hid way too many stashes of everything, and anything here. Um. Try in the east corner or the wardrobe by the swim wear there should be a cooler in the corner."

“Do we have time?”

“We have too much time for once."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone want to try to beta? send me a message (SMILES).


	7. Chapter 7

Change in Tempo  
Kimmzie  
Disclaimer: I don’t own Doctor Who  
Author’s Note: We get Rose/ Nine. Thank you for reading. Any mistakes are my own.

Rose found the cooler and took it back to the control room. She hung around for a few hours sipping at a cool banana flavored drink. The Doctor cursed, smiled, would wave as he tried to fix the TARDIS. 

The TARDIS let out an angry hum. Rose saw little sparks as connections, wires, and technical bits fought the Doctor. "I regenerate into an idiot apparently. He's not keeping the time stream in sync with…." he interrupted himself with another round of cursing.

"Need a hand, mate?" Rose asked peering underneath the console.

"Don't tempt me," he replied in a low tone. “How many have you had?” 

She recognized the manic gleam in his eye. "Enough. Bananas are good. Well, you should make sure we don't crack reality but I’m waiting on you. I owe you a drink." She toed the ground with her trainer. 

"Right then fantastic, let me just try this one last thing." He flashed her a grin and disappeared into the bellows of the console. "Ignore that," he called up as the mauve light started to go off.

"Are we going Belgium?" There was silence. "What's going on?"

"I'm a little busy here. I'll handle it. Just get on, I’ll meet you in the media room or somewhere."  
\---   
Rose made her way to her bedroom. The media room couch felt too lumpy. She fell back on her bed and stared at the ceiling of her new room. Her eyes were unfocused and her mind was a warm sort of fuzzy. She called up the symbols that buzzed in the back of her head and they rotated peacefully above her.   
She decided to try and say his name. She had done it once. Her tongue put up a valiant fight, but kept getting tied up in the syllables.   
She didn't even speak Gallifreyan.

"Oh, don't you worry now. You'll speak it sometime, maybe not- Yes, but probably." Rose looked over to the where the voice was coming from; It was like looking into a mirror. If the speaker was dressed for a post-apocalyptic wasteland, or kickass Halloween party.

"Who are you?" she asked grasping her head.

"Who am I? That is the question, Rose Tyler. I was created by your selfless actions of love. I can control everything, see everything, and do as I wish. Yet, I am you, have been, will be, forever together, you and me. Two sides of the same coin."

"My head, you're…” she stuttered. The symbols above her turned deep red and started smolder and burn.

"Yes, it does burn. Sorry. Having both of us conscious at the same time will do that to you. I just thought I'd say hello. We've been sharing the same space for what seems like forever. Now, before I go." The Bad Wolf sauntered over to Rose eyes glowing. "Say it," she whispered in her ear. "You have to learn it, breathe it. That name will save you when I cannot."

"Why?" Rose was crumbling into a ball with her hands clenching her temples. Her nails digging deeper breaking the skin.

"No, you need to be able to say it.”

“P’lease stop. It hurts. My head.” The human was in a small ball and shaking. 

“Rose, please just say it." The light was becoming brighter. "Say it, why won't you? You are running out of time. Just a few syllables and everything will be better." The Bad Wolf raised her arms and let the fiery script float around her. 

"Oh, but you've already seen him haven’t you. He's like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night and the storm in the heart of the Sun. He's ancient and forever. He burns at the center of time and can see the turn of the Universe. The Oncoming Storm, The Lonely God has chosen you. Why do you shrink from the words?”

“I’m not… He’s….”

“Better. Yes, they burn. I do know you will feel a lot of pain. That has only just begun. This pain is only temporary.” 

The Bad Wolf touched her head and Rose perked up. The piercing pain that had been reverberating through her skull was gone.

“What?”

“It's so much more. Why can't you see it all, Rose Tyler? The fantastic tales you will make across the stars." Rose felt a cool hand on her back. "Say his name."

Rose stretched out a shaky hand and tried to touch the script floated near her fingertips. She could see a wolfish smirk through the circles. With a breath, she cleared her mind like the Doctor had taught her. She let down all the shields and fortification she held up around her lobby. It was like she was drowning again, thoughts and people came flooding around her, there was so much. 

She grounded herself. The human was almost swept away by the onslaught of memories, people, what-ifs, and what-may-have-beens.   
Her voice was low but the syllables came off her tongue as easily if she were singing her favorite song. She said it again and smiled. The symbols returned to her mind and she laughed.

"That's it. Keep it close, keep it safe. We'll all need it. He was the one that wanted a new destination and you. Oh. I got to go now. Ta. You have a visitor!" With that the Bad Wolf was gone.  
\---

"Rose, who were you just talking to?" The Doctor asked from the doorway.

"No one, I'm just counting sheep." She smiled and stretched back in the bad. 

He looked at her sternly. "Doing anything else to pass the time, maybe?" He was now leaning against the doorway arms crossed.

"No." She shook her head and he slowly entered the room. 

She was surprise to see him in only a dark green jumper. He wore the leather jacket as armor- be it a battle, and, or a domestic situation.

"Not practicing anything?" he asked as he made it half way to the bed. 

He looked at her and said a few phrases that made the hair on her arms rise. "Rose Tyler," he said simply.

She shivered. 

"Your turn," he said, urging her on with a wave.

She said the syllables that came out when provoked by the Bad Wolf. The Doctor looked at her stunned. "How can you do that?" He ran a hand through his short hair.

"I don't know I was just practicing…" She ignored the golden flash in her mind.

"How can you do that?" the Doctor repeated.

"I'm starting to get deja vous here. Yes, I know your name is important. I'm not going to be singing it at the top of my lung dancing around mountains tops naked." 

He was next to her before she even realized it. Rose didn't know what to do when his hand was on her cheek again. His face was drawn into an expression of worry. “I wouldn’t mind you singing and dancing around. Without all those layers may be even more enjoyable.”

Rose bit her lip, and lightly lifted his face so his eyes met hers. "S'alright, then?" she asked, quietly.

"I'm always alright. It's you I'm worried about," he grumbled.

"I am fantastic," she replied.

Rose leaned forward and placed her lips on the Doctor's frown. She gently brought him in to her closer. She was puzzled when she found a little resistance. 

"What?" Rose questioned, darkly.

"You have part of the Time Vortex running through your head that can change EVERYTHING. You had a chat with it. I heard two voices outside the door. You're not concerned? And you are hiding it from me…"

"It brought me here, didn't it? She said, ‘we were two sides of the same coin,’ or something."

"Where and when did it come from?"

Rose shifted and her eyes glimmered gold, "Hmmm Time Lord, that hasn't happened for you yet. Spoilers, oh she doesn't say that, that's someone else. I am the Bad Wolf I create myself. I take the words and scatter them to lead me…"  
Her eyes returned to normal and Rose glanced at the dumbstruck Doctor.

"Does that happen often?"

"No, not really," Rose said with a shrug.

"She just pops up, drops useful information, and then just leaves?" The Doctor asked blankly.

"So far," Rose replied. 

The Doctor sighed again and hung his head. “When did you get so temporally complicated, Rose Tyler?"

"The minute you grabbed my hand in a basement and we ran," she replied with a smile and kissed his hand. The lines on his brow smoothed on his face and were replaced by laugh lines around his eyes.

He grasped her hand and pulled her forward into his arms. Rose leaned into his chest and smiled. They had done this many times in the instances that existed between the victories and defeats. They were quiet and she would just listen to both his hearts. Rose looked up at him, and he gave her a genuine smile. She inhaled a breath and got the reserve to knock on his barriers. Her golden light whispering all the terms of endearment and love she had never been able to say to this incarnation.

"Hmm." He cocked an eyebrow. "You might want to wait to go back in there. It's not organized enough for me to help you out. Too much going on," he said, his smile waning. Rose tapped her temples in response.

"I want to try out a trick. If we have time," she added quickly.

"There is no running time in the vortex; well, not precisely that, but Time Lord." he replied softly. 

"We have enough time just as long as the mauve alarm doesn't go off. I regenerated into…" the Doctor started to mutter to himself.

"No talking about past-future-present regenerations when they are not in the room." Rose smiled. "You're starting to mope."

"Time Lords do not mope." He crossed his arms and looked down on her.

Rose rolled her eyes and nodded. "Can I?" she asked reaching her fingers towards his temples.

"No, why don't you try it without physical contact. You've been slipping in and out of my mind all day. We might as well get it under control. You don't want to hear me yammering in and out of your head at the same time." 

He slid away from her and reclined on a pillow. The Time Lord shifted and put his hands behind his head as a pillow. "Call me when you're ready. Go on, go on in and try what you want to. Go into your ‘lobby.’ I promise not to disappear.”

The Doctor readjusted his head and shoulders and the closed his eyes. Rose looked at him and couldn't tell if he was snoring. His chest was rising evenly and calmly. The look on his face was serene. She leaned over him and tried to poke him out of curiosity. 

"Better get a move on, Rose," he said, softly. 

She hid a slight jump.

The human leaned back on her fluffy pillow and closed her eyes. She steadied her breath and ignored the comforting weight at her right side. She squeezed her eyes together and when she opened them she was on the jump seat.

"Well, here you are again or is this the first time?" The Bad Wolf was leaning against the console.

"Why are you here again? Why doesn't my head hurt?" Rose got up and joined the other blonde.

"Gotchya! It's the right time this time. Oi, we rent the same space." The Bad Wolf cocked her head from side to side. "The lack of pain…The easy answer is your unconscious mind is better at compensating. The harder answer involves voids, rifts, time, tearing, and multiple timelines. It's too, too much, just far too much for what you are now. Remember that burning, there would be a lot of that. Can't have your mind boiled yet." The Wolf came closer to Rose. Her sharp teeth showing in a wide grin.

"Right, I don't like that headache." Her counterpart nodded. "What are you doing here, now?" Rose asked with emphasis.

"Syncing up with the right moment in your timeline in this version of reality has proven to be difficult. You are, will, have, been with the Doctor. Not this one? But you are 'courting' as they say. His thoughts keep popping up randomly like a whole bunch of spam ads on the internet. That's too much interference. Oh, Wait til' tumblr and twitter merge, or is it tinder? It'll be brilliantly horrific. "Rose gave a nervous nod and the Wolf shrugged. “Right, so we can't have him being able to run about in here and find me. I can't give away all my secrets." She slumped against the console.

"Why can't he know this great big plan of yours? My other Doctor, the one that is the paradox, seems to know." Rose pulled a nervous hand through her hair.

"A Time Lord with this sort of energy could be a vengeful God." Her eyes flared gold again. Rose rubbed her burning, teary eyes.

"You don't trust him, this Doctor?" Rose asked, as she clenched a fist. The Bad Wolf shook her head, while worrying her lip. "Do you trust any of him?"

"I trust him because you do. But not this Leather one, not yet. The War is too new to him and all he has is you. He wouldn't let the plan continue if he could see all the ramifications. How many chances or times it can go wrong or he could…" she stopped the sentence and gulped.

"Right." Rose shied away from the other's gaze. "And you trust me with that sort of power?" Rose continued.

"Of course, you already have it. It's all done, or will be done. We just have to keep going… We can't have Time Lords, people, or any other life form mucking things up. Anyway, there have been too many spoilers, way too many. Even that hasn't happened yet. Just shh and listen."

The Bad Wolf kneeled next to the jump seat and gestured for Rose to sit down. Rose returned to the seat and met the Wolf's glowing eyes. "He's gonna try n' find out what I am. How he leaves you… He wants to protect you. He is sort of selfish. He may try and keep you as is and nix the whole plan together. We're already changing history, no reapers in sight. Is that what you want? Do you to stay with him?"

"They're all the same man just different faces," Rose replied.

"I knew you were gonna say that! Anyway, he might try and get rid of me altogether. He was always a little domineering and protective of you, us. I'm, we're not the ideal pair for a twenty-first century human brain. Oh, how young you are. All those synapses, neurotransmitter, pheromones, hormones, it's quite exciting."

"I don't even want to go there. What do I have to do?"

"Yes, well when you feel him poking around in here and it'll probably feel like you're about to sneeze. Just stop him."

"How?"

The Bad Wolf smirked and held up her arms. There was a hot golden light that enforced the walls of Rose's lobby. The Bad Wolf winked and an aura shimmered around her like a force field.

"Very flashy," Rose said with a hum of approval.

"I call this stealth mode. He won't be able to see or find me. Unless, you want him to," she said with a grin. "Now you try, it's your mind too."

Rose called up the golden light swirling about the air. She tried to shape it into something sharper, harder. She cut herself off from the buzzing power that she recognized as the Bad Wolf, and sneezed. The force field grew brighter.

"There now, you got it! Only you can see me. Sorry must be off, you're expecting a visitor." She was gone with a flash.

Rose felt out for her line and it seemed to hum with a softer sort of energy. She inhaled deeply and called it to her. She formed the symbols that shaped the Doctor's blueishy line and said his name.

"I thought you would never ask," the Doctor said in her ear, as he appeared against the back of the jump seat. "Were you calling collect or something?" His head pricked up and he looked around quietly. "Is something different?" he asked, as he joined her on the seat.

"No, I was just playing with my walls as you called them. Can't give everything away," she said quietly. The Doctor eyed her appraisingly and shook his head. He sort of sniffed the air and his icy stare shot daggers at her.

"You trust this power running through you, a power that no human is meant to have. I know it was enough to force a Time Lord to regenerate." He pointed to his chest. "It's trying to hide from me. Or you are trying to hide it. Are you alright having all this in your head?"

"Hmph, of course you had to say that." She kissed him gently on the nose and his face distorted in confusion. "To save you, it is worth it. My mum, dad, Tony, and Mickey are all gone now." 

Rose spread her arms into the empty air. 

"I chose you. I still choose you, even if you are acting quite rubbish right now."

The Doctor started to speak and Rose put her fingers to his lips. "You don't have to be a martyr. You can be happy. Why do you keep making me feel guilty for choosing you? You wanted this too," Rose continued, evenly.

"I do," he admonished. His voice small. He pulled a stray strand of hair away from her cheek. "It just feels wrong. We are temporally out of sync with this reality. I can't see where we're going. It's like bumping around in the dark."

"Maybe that's what we need to do. Walk around in the dark for a spell. Technically, it's been fixed once before. We'll figure it out." She grinned and tilted her head to the side.

"Only you would be able to smile while reality is tearing," the Doctor said with a sigh.

"I learned from the best," she answered without hesitation. Rose leaned in and let their lips meet. The room dimmed and got hotter. But before things could escalate the Doctor bounced to his feet.

"Well it's not your parents this time," he said. "There is something wrong in the TARDIS. Time to head back to reality," he said with a casual snap of his fingers.

Rose blinked her eyes and realized her head was resting on the Doctor's chest. His bright, blue eyes considered her as she let the world come into focus. She smiled and squeezed him with her real arms and he returned the hug with equal force. He sprinkled some kisses in her hair and let out a bit of a growl. “The Universe can wait for a moment of two.” He leaned in close to her. 

Her eyes were closed. He had a tangy taste that tingled on her tongue after it retreated. He was radiating heat, even though he was usually so cool. She felt a warmth growing deep down inside her. Should she burn? As corny as that thought sounded in her head, she pushed it away. 

She really had to stop borrowing books from Jack.

She melded her body closer to his hips. Both moved in sync and he made the most delightful growl deep in his throat. Before she knew it she was lifting his jumper over his head. He was skinnier than she remembered. The muscles were still prominent as she traced lines down his chest to his waistline. He was grinning ear to ear and she wordlessly removed her top.

The Doctor had flashed a similar smile of pure delight, when he had been surrounded by golden light. "Everybody lives Rose…" echoed in her mind. He had remembered to dance that night. She grounded and rotated her hips as her hands skimmed his back.

He popped the back of her bra off with ease. That one was usually tricky. With both his hands unhindered by the lacy fabric, he cupped her breasts and started to tease them, alternating between the nipples with his fingers and mouth. Rose's fingers dug into his back and she pressed her hips closer to his hardening need. She tried to covertly reach for the fly but there was no zipper. Who uses buttons in that location? His larger hands aided her in the removal of the last obstinate button that was superglued or something.  
No wonder there was so much tension for so long. Screw Time Lord "self" restraint, rules, and regulations. Buttons.

He let out a heavy sigh when she took him in hand and started to rub her hand down his length.

"Care to show me your moves?" Rose smirked.

"You want moves, Rose? I'll show you moves." Rose blinked and she saw a flash of a blueishy line in her lobby.

"Doesn't the world end when the Doctor dances?"

"Oh, you mean dooms day? I think we are already almost there." He easily flipped her on her back. "That's why it's better with two," he whispered into her neck between marking a trail of bruises down her pulse point. "Someone has to catch you when you finish a spin…"

His hands were now on the zipper of her jeans, which were hastily discarded along with her knickers. She held in a breath as one finger went between her folds and started a beckoning motion. Another was soon added and Rose was having trouble keeping up.

"Ready?" she panted.

"Always. Are you?"

She nodded. "Yeah!" Rose said it with such enthusiasm The Doctor chuckled a bit. 

Rose bit his shoulder in protest and gyrated her hips against him. He raised her hips, and she positioned him at her entrance. In one quick thrust he was inside her. They both moaned. Rose raised her hips further allowing him to go deeper. She wrapped a leg around his hips and clenched as he pushed into her.

"Keep on like that and this isn't going to last very long," he said lowly into her ear. He emphasized it with a hard thrust that had her shaking. There was no reprieve, he just kept going. He started slowly and continued building up on the rhythm. Soon, he was going at a quick, hard pace.

Rose was racking lines down his back not caring how deep her nails went. One leg was around his upper lumbar region, while The Time Lord had one foot planted on the ground. Thank whoever for physics and flexibility.

They had it down to a perfect rhythm, meeting in the middle, Rose could feel her body tiring and everything falling into black. Sunspots were shining behind her eyes. She was burning everywhere, and then she was shaking. Grabbing to him so she wouldn't turn to ash. She bit down into his shoulder to silence her cry.

He raised her head and kissed her. "Let's hear it." 

She obliged. That sent another shiver up her spine. He slowed the pace for a few moments to let her recover but she could tell he wanted to go back to the quicker rhythm.  
"Let's hear you then; you think you're so impressive. Turnabout is fair play." She shifted herself so both legs were around him. It was fast and hard and some pillows were lost. She felt his breath getting labored and his thrust got more chaotic. She steadied the beat a bit with a firm grip and felt him release. Her own body shuddered around him again. In another moment, he was slouched to the side and kissed her on the head.

It was one of those quiet moments where he held her in his arms and she could almost feel the turn of the Universe.  
Their happy bubble was burst again from another alarm from the TARDIS. 

"Right, the mauve alarm is going off. Something is wrong. We are in Cardiff and should be all fueled up. It feels like something is trying to get in." The Doctor jumped to his feet and grabbed his jeans. He got into them and set a brisk pace to the control room. Rose ignored her stiff muscles and tried to keep up. She put on what articles she could find that were still around on the floor. Her knickers were missing. 

The Doctor's eyes grew wide as he saw the lights of the console flickering and the time rotor grinding slowly. "We're not moving, not yet. She's trying to get away from something." He looked at a screen and sighed.

"What?" Rose asked. The Doctor pointed to the screen.

"Look familiar? I thought I left him at a bar in the fifty-third- century. They have a more potent form of hyper-vodka and it comes in banana flavored. Why is the TARDIS reacting to him?" The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "Something is wrong. Well, everything is wrong! But, something is very wrong with him. Stay here."

"B-but, it's Jack," Rose started to say, and the Doctor's glare made her stop. “He seems wrong.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: NSFW, mentions of torture, (nothing graphic)   
> All mistakes are my own. Thank you.

Change in Tempo  
Kimmzie  
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who

“ The TARDIS… she is reacting to him?" The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "Something is wrong. Well, everything is wrong! But, something is very wrong with him. Stay here."

"B-but, it's Ja-c’k," Rose stuttered.

The glare that the Doctor shot her left her speechless.

"For once, don't wander off. The TARDIS does not do this, “The Doctor said in an exasperated huff. Rose crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "For continuity just try and keep out of sight. Knowing Jack he will find you no matter what. But, I don't know if I can let him in the TARDIS. Yes. Yes, I'm checking out what is the matter now. This whole Universe is wrong and you've barely made a peep." The Doctor gritted his teeth as Rose receded from the control room.   
The TARDIS flashed its lights at the Doctor. She knew they were arguing… 

When she heard the door creak open, Rose tried to sneak back into the control room. The door faded right in front of her.   
\--  
"Hello Jack," The Doctor opened the door with a smile. The Time Agent’s jaw hit the concrete. "Jack, usually you show some restraint," The Doctor scolded him, while he quickly gave him a once over. "I think you better step away from the TARDIS before this Universe fractures. I don’t even think you’d survive that."

"Doc' you are a sight for sore eyes. But, you need to get out of here this Universe isn't right. You..." He cast his eyes to look anywhere else than the TARDIS. "Unit has your other TARDIS and I don't know about anything else." He flashed him a pained look.

"Yes, I know I am dead. This whole Universe is an alternate timeline. I'm working on it. But, what are you doing to my TARDIS? Why are you a fixed point in time? What has happened to you? You just feel wrong…" 

Capt. Harkness slowly exhaled and inhaled. "It's a long story. I don't know if I should answer that? Paradoxes and all," he trailed off.

The Doctor nodded solemnly. "Well, you are not coming in here. Is there a middle ground? Somewhere with seating and no rain?" the Time Lord asked as he looked up to the overcast sky.

"Is there anyone else you want to bring?" Jack asked, hopefully. "If we're catching up."

"Answering a question with a question? Nope, not at this moment. There is no one else, it's just you and me for now Captain Jack."

"Right, Doctor allow me to escort you to Torchwood headquarters." The Doctor raised a weary eyebrow.

"You're the one that has been trying to…"

"Locate, we've been trying to locate you," Captain Jack interrupted. "We're not the same as the old Torchwood."

The Doctor nodded stoically. "Why don' t you buy me a drink first." It wasn't a question. Jack's eyebrows disappeared into his hair.   
\--  
The TARDIS stopped shaking, but Rose was left behind a wall. She hit it with an exasperated fist and it did not yield. After some time, she leaned against it and slid to the ground.  
Something was always wrong. She kept feeling a knot of worry poisoning her stomach and making it churn with anxiety. She looked up as the Mauve alarm started to sound again.

"Hello? Rose, are you there?" The Pinstriped version of her Doctor appeared in a pale hologram. Her heart stopped. "Rose, if you are getting this transmission. There is no time to chat. Just leave the TARDIS and go to the alley behind the butcher shop and I'll be there. Rose, you have to go. Trust me." 

Then there was silence as the TARDIS returned to normal.

Rose eyed the wall warily. "Was that? Should I go?"

Nothing… There was just the peaceful background hum of the TARDIS. "Ok," she murmured to herself, as she stroked the wall. She felt her golden thread and connected it to the Bad Wolf energy and pictured a door in front of her.  
With a flash there was a door framed by an ornate pink border. "Hop, skip, and a jump," she said, quietly. The doors of the TARDIS opened as she started to jog out of the control room.

She let the wild golden energy fly as she ran through the frosty square. A dim golden light danced and sizzled upon the cold earth in the shape of her footprints as they fell. The lights of the butcher shop were dimming. She had to flash a girlish smile at the shop attendant who was throwing some leftovers in the dumpster. He gave her a puzzled nod as she disappeared behind the bins.

The TARIDS doors opened automatically. The control room was red and flashing. There were sparks from various consoles that created a strobe effect. The TARDIS hummed a weary, "hello."

"Hello there," she tried to touch the main panel and was zapped.

"Don't!" She saw her Doctor appear from behind the time rotor.

She flinched and sucked on her index finger.

"Right, don't do that. Sorry," he admonished. He grimaced when he saw the reddening digit. "The TARDIS is not. It's getting better." He put his brainy specs in his pocket and got out his sonic screwdriver. Rose's skin tingled when he took the hand and started to sweep the screwdriver over it.

"I guess I'm not as insulated as a Time Lord," she replied.

"Oh, I've been electrocuted quite a few times. Don't worry, it's not you. The TARDIS is just having difficulty compensating. Speaking of that, we better put some distance in between us and the other TARDIS." The Doctor started to pull nobs and levers. She noticed that he had slipped on yellow rubber cleaning gloves.

"Does he know?" The Doctor stopped and raised an eyebrow. "Doctor?"

"He knows and he's not happy about it. But, he's touring Torchwood now, and I don't want you near that place."

"I worked for Torchwood," she said blankly. 

The Doctor stiffened.

"No, you can't chance it. They know something is going wrong and they've already put you in jeopardy." He stopped as she came closer to him.

"I volunteered." Her breath was on the back of his neck and she snickered. "I am not a tribute."

"I know," he said, trying to keep his breath steady. "You're Katniss, you volunteered."

"To save someone I loved." He could feel her smiling into his back, and his posture folded a bit.

"Please, just don't trust this Torchwood. You'll be safer with Unit. They've worked with me before. "

"They have your TARDIS. We don't have much of a choice." The Doctor stepped away from the console and let Rose wrap her arms around him. "Jack works for Torchwood."

"You need to get him away from his team or he'll probably be captured. I told you it could get bad." He turned around and considered her glassy, hazel eyes.

"How long we got?" she asked.

"We don't have very long." He scrunched his nose. "Jack is wining and dining me, or the other way around. You never really know with that one. But don't worry I only have eyes for you, darling." The Doctor flashed his grin and batted his eyelashes.

"Haven't whispered many tender nothings into a loved one's ear in a while, have we?" Rose laughed.

The Doctor looked solemnly into her eyes and started speaking that musical language. He said a few lyrical phrases that sounded nothing like the short curses that came from under the console. It made her blood hum and ears ring. The words were familiar. "Only for you," he whispered in her head.

He looked so tired. His eyes were almost colorless, with his pupils dilated against the red backlighting of the room. His gaunt cheeks were highlighted by the dark circles that haunted his face. 

She touched his cheek and was surprised to feel stubble.

"When was the last time you did proper maintenance?" She gestured at his slim frame.

"Rose, I've been working on the TARDIS since you got back with Ole Big Ears." 

Rose sighed. "No, Doctor. When was the last time you slept? Or have eaten? Maybe even a shower? You know, normal grooming and maintenance of that foxy body of yours."

"So you do fancy it, ha!" Rose rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Come on then, off we go." She took the Doctor's hand.

"Where to?" He just followed blindly.

"First, we get you something to eat."

"Probably from a jar," they said in unison and laughed. He swung her hand with extra oomph.

"The galley is this way," The Doctor said leading her through some unfamiliar corridors. "You hear the cloister bell. We have a problem- that happens more than you would think."  
Rose nodded.

The Doctor sat down and rested his head in his hands. Rose raided the cupboards. He raised his eyes when he heard a plate drop down. "Eat," she said, simply. She waved a jar of marmalade in front of him and he grabbed it. No spoon needed.

She went back to the cupboards and started to throw out what she thought was expired. The TARDIS didn't translate all the labels so some of it was guess work. By the time her task was completed, the Doctor was looking into the empty jar. He gave her a tired smile and she sat next to him. 

"Ewww you're all sticky." She giggled as he tried to hold her hand.

"That is a valid point," he replied, firmly grasping her hand. "What shall we do about my current unfortunate circumstance?" He looked up at her with wide-puppy-dog eyes.

"Wash it off?" she answered, unsurely.

"Brilliant! That is a brilliant idea. I do have one problem though, or will."

"What?"

"Oh, you'll see," he replied, ominously. He stuck his whole hand in the jar and looked at her if it was the most normal thing.

The last thing she saw was his coated hand coming upon her. She closed her eyes.

It was over quickly. 

She was sticky. She was very, very sticky. Every inch of exposed skin was covered in orange marmalade, she even had a pair of rings across her ankles.

"How did you get so much?"

"Bigger on the inside," he said with a shrug. "Now Ms. Tyler, what shall we do?"

"Throttle you maybe," she said half-heartedly.

"I got a better idea." He took their hands and mashed them together. "Come on," he said. He was grinning like such an idiot. Rose was not happy that the marmalade had oozed into her socks.

The Doctor seamlessly guided her through the maze of hallways. She automatically fell in toe with his footsteps, as they jogged, turned, spun, and dashed. Suddenly he stopped, and she cringed as she turned on her heal and felt an extra squish.

"Eww, what are we?" She didn't finish the thought.

"Maintenance, you know grooming and such." The Time Lord tried to ruffle her hair but she evaded it. "You don't look too clean yourself," he finished, bouncing on his heels. "What? We've done this before. You know, hit the showers."

Rose crossed her arms. "You're just lucky you didn't get my jacket," she said, softly. Without another word, she started to get rid of her sticky clothes. Rose knew he was looking. That was nothing new. "You're lucky it's just marmalade." She looked down at the pile wordlessly.

He was humming happily from the shower. Rose inhaled and went into the unknown. Her heart dropped.   
He was skinny. She could see the indentations between his ribcage. The pale skin was bruised and freshly raw in more places than she could count. Rose swept her hand over the closest wound without touching the skin.

"I thought that would be healed by now. Not healing as fast as I used to, or they’re getting better at torture." The Doctor examined a bruise on his arm.

"What happened?" Rose encircled him slowly. She didn't even feel the water on her back.

"Torchwood," he replied. "Torchwood in this timeline, they have gotten desperate. Hell is paved with good intentions. They think they are doing good. That is why Ole Big Ears is talking to them now, and you're here with me. We're keeping you away from them." She straightened and looked up at him.

"Why?"

"We are two beings from an alternate timeline. Time has a way of slipping and warping around us. I'm a Time Lord whose timeline has ended prematurely. You have the Time Vortex running through your head. Sounds like the back cover to a paperback. Well anyway, they will eventually realize that this reality is wrong. Will they want to find a way to fix it? Maybe they will want to keep it. Who really knows." He cringed. "Fix it by studying what is already wrong. “Either way, I keep almost ending up as a scientific experiment. I don’t want that to happen to you.”

"But you're alright now?" Rose asked with apprehension.

"I'm always alright. But, now I'm brilliant. I got away and they're not going to get you," he added. He smiled and let some dampened strands of her hair fall through his fingertips.

"Does it hurt?" she stuttered. He shook his head.

"Tis but a flesh wound. Time Lord pain killers, best stuff in the Universe."

"Really?" Rose challenged. 

"Rose it's ok to y'know to come closer," the Doctor said cautiously, pulling her through the warm streams. "There is no internal damage. It's all dermal abrasions and contusions that will heal. I can go heal them all now if that would make you feel better."

Rose realized she was hanging in the back corner of the shower avoiding the streams. 

Or was she avoiding the Time Lord? The Doctor looked at her with eyes she almost didn't recognize.

She shuffled across the tile of the shower and leaned into a clear spot of his chest. "You're still sticky," she murmured.

"I might need some assistance with that," he replied, looking down at her with a grin.

"You are rubbish on your own," she said, trying to make sure her voice didn't crack. "Well you got us into this mess," she whispered against his chest. He held her closer, and Rose let out a sigh. "Present mess excluded, the current marmalade situation has your sticky Time Lord fingerprints all over it," she said with a shy smile.

He was looking off into the wall as he felt the unique pressure of a human tongue and the rough texture of taste buds licking his chest. That was a newish sensation.

"What?" he stammered.

"Shh, trying to learn from you. I'll be better able to see the total coverage of the jam," Rose trailed off. She flourished the sentence with several playful inspections with her tongue.   
The Time Lord wasn't sure what to do as Rose expanded the operation. She took care to avoid any wounds. Her hands moved easily over his wet body and angled it slightly with each slow tortuous lick, nip, or kiss.

"Oi," he squeaked.

"Just making sure it's still there, Doctor. You got such a nice one," she said with a wink. With that, all he saw was damp blonde hair as she lowered herself to her knees. Her hands caressed his iliac crest that was a little too prominent. They followed the ridge of the bone and stopped at the cluster of hair in the middle. She gave it a playful twirl and giggled a bit. The Doctor didn't even get to inhale. Rose was grasping his straining member in her hands. Pulling harder than a normal caress. He was robbed of the next breath as her mouth met the tip.

He drew in a breath and stiffened when Rose stopped. She shrugged and started to suck strongly into the back of her mouth. He could feel the blood vessels on his tip bruising and he didn't care. The nerves fired happy zaps to his weary Time Lord brain. He was leaning his weight against the tile wall, arms spread out helplessly. She just kept going down, the pressure of her sucking ebbing and waning with her breath. She finally got down to the bottom and he could feel the back of her throat quivering. She popped up quickly and started to lick the tip again. This time she washed her tongue over it slowly making sure every centimeter of it was covered. Though he wasn't sure how much marmalade could actually be in that umm… area.

That didn't matter, as Rose combined the sucking with alternate licks and nips. Her bobbing started to get faster. The Doctor tried to grab her hair but she swatted his hands away easily."Mmm bsssy," she hummed. Her hand then started to work the bottom of the shaft as she concentrated on the top. The Time Lord was getting tunnel vision as his blood was   
thundering in his ears and other places. The pace started to quicken and there were sparks.

"Rose," he groaned. Hazel eyes shot up and winked. She deep throated him as he tried not to pump into the back of her throat. Rose smiled as the not-so salty liquid went down her throat. The Doctor wiped some liquid from her lips as she raised to meet his eyes. Wordlessly, the Time Lord leaned down and plundered her mouth. His tongue dominating her. He reveled in the taste of himself that remained.

Rose was now against the tiles of the wall breathing defenselessly. The Doctor's clever fingers were doing some kind of crazy alternating between circling this and stroking that. There were a lot of bites in between. He was positioned at her entrance before she could ask, beg, plead, or whatever. Her nails forgot his bruised back as they racked a pink trail down the contours when he was fully sheathed inside her.

"Fast and hard?" he asked in a growl both physical and mental. There was no calm light in the blueishy line that banged against her barriers. It was frantic, hot, and chaotic. His Oncoming Storm was showing. She nodded and let a leg wrap around his upper thigh and he started to thrust. Her short nails anchored her and helped not topple her over as he moved quick and hard. They were both loud and the bathroom had great acoustics. After a round of some delightful noises from the human, The Doctor somehow raised both her legs and pinned her against the wall. There was a small hit to her clit with every fast redraw and she felt as if she were burning. She was shaking.

"Oh, stay with me Rose." He pleaded with a stroke to her cheek. Then the Time Lord started to do more chaotic thrusts. Rose tried to ground herself down on his shaft with a little twist to meet him, as his strong arms continued to support her.

"Please?" she whispered through her golden thread to the maelstrom of a thread in her mind.

"I thought you'd never ask," he quipped. "For my next trick," he emphasized with a thrust and readjustment. "It'll be on three."

He was going so hard that he was hitting her core and it was leaving a painfully, good vibration through her skin. Was he counting? She was already floating.

"Three."

She started to quiver and say something, as he slowly pumped deep inside her. Was he saying something? Then, they were both on the floor of the shower in a puddle.

A few breaths later, he was cleaning her up with a flannel. She leaned against him. "So you're going to disappear again?" she whispered.

"Don't want to," he nuzzled into his hair. "Gotta keep all those monsters away. Anyway, before you are returned there a few things you need to know."

"Well?"

"I'm not going to discuss business like this. You know we could be doing other things. Go put something on. You humans get so pruny." He yelped when Rose gave him a playful tug.

The look on his face was priceless when she appeared in the doorway sporting one of his oxfords only slightly buttoned.

"Now that Rose Tyler, is unfair."

"Boxer-briefs are Time Lord work attire?"

"I have led revolutions in less." He puffed out his chest as Rose just laughed. "Now, let's have a chat about good ole' Capt. Jack."  
\---  
"Ok Captain Harkness, now we can get down to business. I mean, as soon as you call off that team of yours." The Doctor nodded his head to a ubiquitous corner.

Jack acquiesced by lifting his arm in the air and snapping. "Better?" he asked, raising a brow.

"Yes, much better. Thank you very much. How do you feel about Italian?"

"Aww Doc, how romantic," Jack preened. "You always did look so dashing by candlelight." 

The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"What do you want Jack? You've been tracking me for how long your time?" he asked, softly.

"We've been tracking you for too long. It was strange that you kept popping up around this time and things seemed to keep going wrong. Then UNIT acquired a body and TARDIS…" 

The Doctor's jaw clenched.

"Yes Jack, I am very aware of the fact that I am dead, and this timeline is wrong."

"Why is Rose here?" he asked, offhanded. "Her energy signature is different, something is wr..."

"Rose is fine. Rose is fantastic. You keep her out of this. I am handling it. How do you even know she is here now?"

"I saw her run across the square into an alley." Jack shrugged. "This place should be good," Jack continued over the Doctor's cursing.

"I have one rule for you… all of you. Don't wander off. He must've grabbed her." The Time Lord continued to mutter under his breath.  
The two time travelers were sat in a cozy corner by the emergency exit. The Doctor raised his screw driver and let it make a shriek for about 10 seconds. "There no one should be able to hear us."

Jack smiled his winning grin as a bottle of red came to the table with two glasses. He played with the bottle and poured the glasses with un-needed finesse.

"Do you have room for another?" a bright voice asked.

"Are you interrupting my date, Rosie?" Jack answered, his eyes narrowed.

"The more the merrier I say. He was mine first," she said lowly and pulled up a seat. The Doctor was trying to hide his burning cheeks, even though physiologically speaking, Time Lords have no need for such nonsense such as blushing.

"Can't you just let a guy cut in?" Jack smirked.

"Nope," she smiled with an extra pop. "Not this dance," Rose replied.

"You are out past your bedtime and out of your time stream, young lady," Jack said, darkly. He looked between the two and sighed. "Both of you are. Reports say that the TARDIS was taken by two operatives, a man in a leather jacket and a blonde. UNIT won't let us near it. But with the technology Torchwood could help restore the timelines. Nothing can be worse than this."

The Doctor quirked a brow and folded his arms.

"Actually Jack, it's quite the opposite." Rose frowned. "I have it on good authority that if you stay with Torchwood it'll not end well."

"And who may that be?"

"Him," Rose said simply, and nodded her head. The Doctor kept his face blank as a Roman bust. "Well, one of him. It's going to get worse. But you could help us. He has the technology. We could get the old team back together and fix this whole mess."

"I have a team and responsibilities," Jack muttered.

"What are you afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" Rose's eyes glowed. "You're wrong Captain Jack Harkness; you are fixed point in time, forever. Longer than that… probably, maybe. Rose Tyler brought you back. She destroyed the Daleks and brought life. But it was too much for a human, even one as impressive as you." Jack looked at her speechless.  
"Is that a thing now?" Jack asked pointing. "She never glowed before… I always wondered how you guys got out," he added.

"She has part of the time vortex running through her head. The persona of Bad Wolf seems to keep popping up and manipulating things," the Doctor said, his words were sharper than the icicles hanging outside. "To simplify a long and complex story, you should listen to her."

Rose shook her head and took a drink of the Doctor's unattended wine. "You really, really should. We are already hot on the trail."

"It's been so long, too long." he whispered.

"Yup," Rose nodded. "I was trapped in an alternate dimension. Time runs faster and I was using a sort of cannon to get back here and find the Doctor."

"You!" Jack pointed at her, his morose countenance gained some of the spark she remembered. 

Brooding Jack was no fun.

"Me?" Rose countered.

The Doctor just seemed like he had a big headache.

"You've been the one ripping holes in the fabric of time and space," Jack said matter-of-factly.

"Only a few and I work with the Torchwood on that side. You are looking at Team supervisor of field agents specializing in alien technology and relations. It's a lot of paper work,"   
she added, lightly.

"That is why Ms. Tyler, you delegate."

Rose laughed. "That is why Capt. Harkness, you should delegate to your team and trust-em. Mickey has my old job."

"Ricky the idiot is in charge of protecting a planet? Now I've seen everything." The Doctor's eyes were wide. Jack laughed.

"I mean. I don't want you to be wrong, Jack. I did that to you. I can fix it, or I'll try." Rose said, her hazel eyes shining.

"Let's fix one disaster at a time. It's not like I'm going anywhere…" Jack stopped as he saw Rose freeze. A sort of dread came over her face.

"I don't know, Jack. It hasn't happened to me yet. I can barely control the events as they happen now. Rose has the information."

"You will if you continue on this current path. Your team will also be gone." Rose let out a long exhale. "It's already happened the Sontarans come." Rose cringed and looked away. "After you are gone, Torchwood hunts me and the other Doctor down… and tries to fix what is temporally wrong by studying us."

The Doctor just looked at her darkly and wordlessly. He'd been tortured, captured, and experimented on before, but, Rose too?

"We've already done this one way and mucked it up. You should've seen him. He had bruises and open wounds and…"

"Stop. He's fine. We won't let them get you or me this time around."

"Ok, I am in. Just let me get some stuff in order and I'll be back at the TARDIS in a few hours."  
"Get Torchwood off our back too," The Doctor added.  
Jack drank down the bottle of wine with a few deep gulps and left a pile of pound notes on the table.

"You too… Mister Money Bags. Did you know he has had a bank account all this time?" Rose poked in his pocket. "Buy me a drink first," she tried to imitate his Northern accent. It wasn't too bad.

"Right, I can give you all of time and space. I also give you all the credit chips and real chips you can eat. Money how primitive a notion it is. Who uses paper anymore anyway?" He threw down some wrinkled notes. Rose grinned when she saw the laugh lines around his eyes.

"So off we go?" They headed out into the dark, cold night and dodged the icicles hanging by the door.

"See you in a few," Jack said with a wave.

"Why did you wander off?" The Doctor asked. Rose was silent. "Ah, it was him."

"Are you mad or something?"

"Nope, you did leave me alone with Jack Harkness."

"Are you gonna change dance partners on me now? You're the one with the moves." She went forward and backward; 1, 2 cha, cha, cha… 3, 4, cha, cha, cha."

"You can spice up your life later. It's freezing out."

The two hung around the control room trying to ignore the burning vibration that flittered in the back of both their heads. If Jack found them in any sort of position he would probably just join. Soon enough the tension broke and a smiling former Time Agent burst in the door.

"Rose, why don't you show him to a room." Another question that was not a question. Rose nodded and took the Captain along.

He and Rose Tyler were going to or had danced. The steps were getting more slippery and more delicate. But he was prepared.   
Why was it always so easy to grab her hand?


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who  
> Author's Note: This is version idk anymore of this chapter. I love this scene

Change in Tempo  
Kimmzie

\- Ninth Doctor- Flashback “-The Doctor Dances”-edited- I never can let this one go

He wandered the dark halls of the TARDIS. The steps of his victory march got heavy and slower; his elation dissipated into the air with each breath. It had been such a day.   
He had one day. 

"Just give me one day like this!"

"Everybody lives, Rose. Just this once everybody lives!" 

The TARDIS tried to hum brightly in his mind. The tendrils of hundreds of timelines were restored to live their lives. Time clicked on in peaceful circles around him, ticking, beating away with his hearts. There was too much: going, flowing, ebbing, and ticking away. Always changing, never stopping. Run! Always running.  
However, tonight he had remembered to dance. Rose's hand had caressed his gently in a spin. Her turn was more important than the rotation of the stars. Her golden hair spun in circles around the console room.

Jack had tried to cut in a few times. His quasi-American grin trying catch the girl’s eye, as he tried to steal her away into a swing. Somehow, Rose's hand always found its way back to the Doctor's leather clad back, shoulder, arm, and ultimately his hand.

T-A-N-G-O. 

He stepped with her, effortlessly letting their hips touch. Closer. She needed to come in closer to him. Mold into him. Be with him.   
He pushed her forward for a side step and her leg wrapped around his. There was a glorious slow burning building between them. 

Another dip, lower this time; her flexible back almost let the tips of her hair touch the grating.  
Ultimately, the tangy music of the accordion stopped. Rose was left grinding into his hips, breathless. She looked up at him with half-lidded eyes laughing. 

The Doctor shot her one last smile. He turned away abruptly, lest he burn her. Everything he touches burns. 

Her body was heat. It was everything he needed. She was everything he wanted. He didn’t want to be alone… The weight of his punishment was descending upon his shoulders again. He felt heavy, tired, and old.

The music gave him a pretense. But he didn't dance every day. He had one day.

"Doctor?" Rose panted.

"Well now, look at the time. Jack is already gone away. I believe it's time to call it in." Rose hid a yawn beneath her hand.

"I can do a few more," she smiled, shaking her hips.

Her hand would eventually crackle and blister under his touch. 

Coward every time. 

The Time Lord would just keep company within the haunted vaults of his mind with his ghosts, guilt, and memories.  
\--  
Rose rolled around restlessly and kicked off the heavy, pink comforter. The lighter pink sheets were tangles around her body and constricting her. She couldn’t breathe. She was burning. She finally broke free. Her chest was heaving quickly, as her greedy lungs drunk in the cold, night air. The room was spinning. There was a strange music permeating the room. 

It was beautiful and sad, it sounded sort of like a string quartet. She passed her hand through the empty air and it was vibrating.   
Something was tugging on her hand. "Run!" the air whispered.

Without hindrance, or heed, or a destination she grabbed a hoodie and set out. The music set a higher tempo and her heartbeat acted as a metronome. Her footsteps wandered aimlessly through the endless halls. "Run!" the voice was louder. The corridors were becoming thinner. The music came to a crescendo, and she turned her head to the wall. 

"Rose?" a hoarse voice asked, she tried to keep calm when she met his dark, icy eyes.  
"  
Doctor?" Rose answered the Time Lord, and gently joined him against the wall. He was silent and looking off into the distance. "Whatcha doing here?" she tried to ask lightly. 

He collapsed further into the wall. "Just this once everybody lived. Unfortunately, it won't always be that way. It hasn't been like this for a very long time. It won't happen again anytime soon." His voice was a whisper.He smiled and found his hand and drew small circles with her thumb. "

Well, we did win. We even danced. We can dance, win, and celebrate again."

"I don't remember how to dance every day, Rose." He looked at her with his brow drawn.

"Then you just need a partner to take the lead." She got up dusted off her pants and pulled his arm gently. "Can't you hear the music? It's like something classical with violins and stuff'." The Doctor slowly got up and placed a hand on her waist.

"You can hear the music." It was a question posed as a statement.

"Never mind that now Doctor," she paused. "I want to dance, and the Lady wants to lead." She started to step them into a waltz.

The sides of the Doctors lips twitched upwards as he got dragged along the hallway. His smile grew with each step. The horrors of his haunted, bleeding heart were slowly being banished with the beat. Rose didn't seem to be weighed down. She just kept dragging him along for the ride with a cheeky smile. Her tongue would peek out from the corner of her mouth when she concentrated on a more difficult step.

"Oi, keep up Mr. Time Lord. For someone that is always running you need to catch up to me." She laughed and moved closer as the form of the dance deemed it necessary.

They were a breath apart as she began to sway her hips. It was two steps forward, and Rose laced her fingers around his head forming a crown. Now it was, two steps back. Their bodies swiveled in quick turns to fit in the narrow corridor. As the dance ended, the Doctor silently told the TARDIS to stop the music. 

"Wh’y is it’all quiet?" Rose said looking around. "I was just getting’ my grove back. I’m ah’bit rusty."

She slowly stepped back and leaned against the wall. The Doctor missed her warmth. 

"You were fantastic," he replied automatically. He stepped back as she tried to return to her former spot.

She slid back against the wall with a sigh. "Why do you always do that Doctor? Hide? Or Run? Do you ever stop?”

"No. You already knew that. I run, Rose Tyler.”

“I thought things were different. I know you. I’ve seen it. The Oncoming Storm. Are you so scared of losing things again that you just push it all away? You run, which is brilliant. Why do you push me away?”

The Time Lord shook his head and placed his palm against the wall near Rose’s cheek.

“I run to be kind. Because there is always someone that will get hurt. People around burn and suffer. I save some, but I have lost so many…I have all of time and space. I will always see too much, live too long," he said his voice was steadily rising. “Even you will grow old, decay…”

“I’m right here, Doctor. Now, I am right in front of you. Do you really think I haven’t seen who you are? How much is there to lose, Doctor?"

Rose realized she was trapped between the wall and a frustrated Time Lord. She averted her eyes to the floor. The way he was looking at her she wanted to disappear into the wall.

"What do you do when things turn to rubble and dust in front of you? Curse of the Time Lords," he whispered in spite. Rose cringed as he started to move away.

"Now in the present, this very moment you grab someone's hand, and dance or run in a basement. Sometimes, you need someone to lead you or stop you. On some days, you need to show a shop girl the Universe. You make her feel the rotation of the Earth and Universe. You show her how fantastic and how much more there is." She spread out her arms. "Doctor, sometimes you just need a hand to hold." She finally met his eyes and he was breathless. “Please, Doctor… I am right here.”

"Rose," he exhaled. "I just can’t."

"No."

The statement sent a shiver down the Time Lord's spine. “Excuse me?”

"No, you can. You just won't. Coward, that's what you are. We've been dancing around in circles and now you're about to run. Where are you going to run off to Doctor I'm not going anywhere. Unless," she trailed off.

"Unless?" the Doctor questioned, cautiously.

"Unless… you want me to go." She started to walk away and felt a stiff tug to her arm.

"No," he exhaled as his arms pulled her back into his frame. "Not when there is so much to show the shop girl, the ap-… 21st-century human, those titles don't matter. I need to show you, Rose, everything I have to offer. I need to see the Universe with younger eyes and see how fantastic it all can be. I don't need a hand to hold. I need your hand. Now, run for your life."

He stepped away and headed off down the corridor. "I need to run with you, Rose Tyler."  
\--  
The Doctor made it to the console room before Rose. He was already pressing buttons and grinning at the Time Rotor as it started to grind away, when Rose breathlessly made it to the room.

"You're going to have to work on more of that cardio, Ms. Tyler," he replied to her harsh exhale.

"Not all of us can have respiratory bypass," she huffed back.

"Where are we off to in such a hurry?" she asked as he continued to spin around the console. The TARDIS shook as he pressed a few buttons. They landed with a sort of rushed lurch.

"And we are here," he replied, grinning from ear to ear, no pun intended.

"That is?" Rose leaned against the jumper seat.

"Well, you can't go out in that, with your human circulatory system and metabolic processes. Go and change." He shooed her off while he looked at the screen.

She went to her room to go change. Back to normal and basics. She picked up what seemed to be futuristic long underwear with slight disdain. At least it was pink.  
A few minutes later, she clunked her way back to the console room. Her shoes had some magnetic soles that stuck to the floor. Her movement was further limited due to the heavy down jacket she wore. She also had pink sunglasses/ goggles on. She raised the glasses as she saw the Doctor sporting a similar jacket over his leather.

"You know, I could move better in the corsets than this getup," she said with a smirk.

"You look lovely," he bowed his head.

"For a…"

"For an anything, something, or whatever you are, Rose Tyler." He held out his hand and she held out her be-mittened hand. "Get ready for a bit of a gust," he warned as he led her to the door. "I let down the force field around the perimeter, so you could feel it."

The door was open a sliver and she felt it. The cold stole the air from her lungs and the Doctor had to drag her out. Her face burned as the wind permeated her dermis and colored it her favorite color. She squinted her eyes behind the lenses as a hot, bright light burned her world into darkness.

"Just give it a moment," the Doctor's voice urged her as he led her blindly forward. Her shoes stuck to the ground as she took small steps. She heard a buzz coming off her lenses. "There now, the lenses should be adjusted, didn't think it would take that long."

Rose's hazel eyes blinked cautiously open and she couldn't help but tilt her head up. There was a forty-foot wave arcing gracefully over her head. She could see the foam bubbling under a clear sheet of ice. If she looked hard enough she could see the sea foam slowly move in a swirling current, but the structure stayed in place. Her eyes darted all over around; it was just glistening ice. She was on an ocean mid-storm that was frozen.

"It's called Woman Wept. The whole planet is made up of an ocean that got frozen a few millennia ago. It seems to be starting to thaw."

"It's beautiful," she stammered.

"It's a casualty of the Time War."

"The whole planet?" Rose asked looking back at the Doctor. His eyes were sharper blue than the storm beneath her feet.

"There are still many echoes of the damage… all throughout time and space. I couldn't save the Time Lords. I couldn't save countless lives, billions of lives, Rose. There is a whole planet dead, frozen below your feet because of me. What I've done."

"And?" Rose asked.

"And?" he replied.

"And what about all the people you have saved? You saved me." She wrapped her arms around herself as the wind got brisker. She could see him folding in upon himself again for a moment. Her heart couldn't even sink into the ocean. "Why are we here?" she said so softly the wind stole her words.

He straightened and looked at her with dark horrifyingly, beautiful eyes. "I've shown the shop girl horrors and wonders. You've seen some of the echoes of my past. Now, you said you wanted more. This is more."

\- End Flash Back-  
"Doctor?" Rose's mind caressed his. "Show me what you got. Show me everything or nothing. Just let me stay. Always save that last dance for me, yeah?" She held out her hand and he wordlessly followed her down the hallway.

"Jack is put away right?"

"Yup. Though not fully clothed. Well, I mean. You could go take a look if you want." Rose blushed.

"Same old team then?" He smiled and it did reach his eyes.

The Doctor overtook Rose's steps as they made their way to his bedroom. She was frowning in concentration; she kept looking between two distinct points with a furrowed brow. She worried her lip, but soldiered on. The Doctor hid a small grin to himself.


End file.
